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+Project Gutenberg's The Ordinance of Covenanting, by John Cunningham
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Ordinance of Covenanting
+
+Author: John Cunningham
+
+Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25353]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORDINANCE OF COVENANTING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stacy Brown, Jordan and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+ORDINANCE
+
+OF
+
+COVENANTING.
+
+
+BY
+
+JOHN CUNNINGHAM, A.M.
+
+
+"HE HATH COMMANDED HIS COVENANT FOR EVER." Ps. cxi. 9.
+
+"THOUGH IT BE BUT A MAN'S COVENANT, YET IF IT BE CONFIRMED, NO MAN
+DISANNULETH, OR ADDETH THERETO." Gal. iii. 15.
+
+
+ GLASGOW:--WILLIAM MARSHALL.
+ SOLD ALSO BY JOHN KEITH.
+ EDINBURGH:--THOMAS NELSON AND JOHN JOHNSTONE.
+ LONDON:--HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO.
+ MANCHESTER:-GALT & ANDERSON.
+ BELFAST:--WILLIAM POLLOCK.
+
+
+
+ TO
+ THE REVEREND ANDREW SYMINGTON, D.D.,
+ PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY
+ IN
+ THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
+ THIS VOLUME
+ IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+Introduction Page 1
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+NATURE OF COVENANTING.
+
+Term Covenant defined, 5
+Sinners Redeemed, are in Covenant
+ with God, 6
+This relation not a mere law, 7
+ has parties, 7
+ has conditions, 7
+ is the Covenant of Grace, 8
+Term Covenanting defined, 8
+By Covenanting men make a Covenant
+ with God, 8
+This Covenant not distinct from that
+ of Redemption, or that of Grace, 9
+The formal exercise of Covenanting
+ not indispensable to an interest
+ in the Covenant of Grace, 11
+God's Covenant may, for the first
+ time, be entered into in the
+ exercise of Covenanting, 12
+In Covenanting, if God's Covenant
+ has been laid hold on before, it
+ is then renewed, 14
+
+THE VOW.
+
+Definition, 15
+Vow made to God alone, 15
+ a solemn promise to God, 16
+ to be made voluntarily, 17
+ must be consistent with duty, 17
+ never made but in Covenanting, 17
+
+THE OATH.
+
+Definition, 18
+To swear, to use an oath, 19
+It is by the Lord that all ought
+ to swear, 19
+Oath sworn with the lifting up of
+ the right hand, 20
+Swearing a devotional exercise, 21
+In the oath is implied a condensed
+ adoration, 21
+The oath a solemn appeal to God, 23
+In swearing a lawful oath, a Covenant
+ with God is made, 23
+ whether given to confirm an
+ assertion, 23
+ or given to confirm an explicit
+ promise, 26
+The civil or moral use of the oath
+ depends on its spiritual character, 29
+The oath distinct from the vow, 30
+
+CONFESSION.
+
+To confess, to perform services which
+ include Covenanting, 31
+ --in the Old Testament, 32
+ --in the New, 33
+To confess Christ, to Covenant, 36
+To profess, sometimes, to confess, 37
+Then, profession equivalent to
+ confession, 38
+
+PERSONAL COVENANTING.
+
+This an act, of adherence to God's
+ Covenant, 38
+ approving of the way of salvation
+ through Christ, 39
+ of accepting Christ and all his
+ benefits, 39
+ of renouncing satan and sin, 42
+ of self-dedication to God, 43
+ in which duty is promised to God, 44
+
+SOCIAL COVENANTING.
+
+This also an act of acquiescence in
+ God's Covenant, 44
+Performed by the Church in an
+ ecclesiastical capacity, 45
+Performed by Covenanting in a
+ national capacity, 46
+That may be performed by various
+ communities in one confederation, 47
+Implying all that is included in
+ Personal Covenanting, 48
+An act of acceptance of the benefits
+ of God's Covenant, 49
+Of vowing general and specified
+ obedience, 50
+Of federal engagement among the
+ members of the Covenanting
+ community, 51
+Of public acceptance of the truth
+ of God and of renouncing error, 52
+Performed in the name of those who
+ engage in it, and in the name of
+ posterity, 53
+
+COVENANT RATIFICATION.
+
+By oath, 54
+Oath and Covenant associated, 54
+Oath for confirmation, 55
+Oath essential to a Covenant with
+ God, 55
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+MANNER OF COVENANTING.
+
+Preliminaries, 57
+Intelligently, 61
+Cordially, 62
+Deliberately, 63
+Sincerely, 63
+In the first ages by sacrifice, 64
+Phrase considered, 64
+What intended by the bisection of
+ the victim, 67
+Swearing symbolized by sacrifice, 67
+Explicit proof, 69
+Covenants ratified by blood of
+ sacrifice, 70
+ In all ages by faith, 71
+ Devotionally, 73
+ In solemn assemblies, 73
+ A holy exercise, 74
+ Should be performed with godly
+ fear and reverence, 74
+ With confession of sin, 75
+ Vow made in prayer, 76
+Sometimes with the living voice, 77
+Sometimes by subscription, 77
+Covenanting a distinct exercise, 78
+Though entering into other duties,
+ yet by itself not unnecessary, 79
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+COVENANTING A DUTY.
+
+According to the will of God as
+ King and Lord, 83
+Obedience to Christ as possessed of
+ all power in heaven and in earth, 83
+Believers engage in it as under law
+ to Christ, 84
+Covenanting in an ecclesiastical
+ capacity, obedience, 86
+Covenanting in an ecclesiastical and
+ in a national capacity, obedience, 88
+Commanded in the Moral Law, 92
+ In the first three precepts of the
+ decalogue, 92
+ In statutes that illustrate these, 94
+ commands to glorify God, 94
+ to worship God, 95
+ enjoining faith, 96
+ forbidding federal transactions
+ with what is evil, 96
+Enjoining the vowing of the vow, 98
+Explanation of Deut. xxiii. 22, 100
+ of Eccles. v. 5, 102
+ inculcating the swearing of
+ the oath, 103
+ The duty of swearing the oath
+ not abrogated, 104
+ enjoining the exercise in all
+ its parts, 106
+The exercise inculcated in
+ threatenings of Divine judgment
+ against such as disregard it, 106
+Personal Covenanting commanded, 108
+Social-- 109
+ in an ecclesiastical capacity, 110
+ in a national capacity, 112
+ Nations whose constitutions are
+ immoral and unscriptural,
+ called to the duty, 118
+ Nations that have not heard the
+ gospel, not guiltless for not
+ Covenanting, 119
+ in various capacities, 120
+ Assemblies for the
+ investigation of Divine
+ truth, 122
+ Bible societies, 122
+ Missionary Societies, 125
+ None may be excused for not
+ engaging in Covenanting, 128
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+COVENANT DUTIES.
+
+Covenanting ought to embrace
+ present and permanent duty, 131
+Duties to each one's self, 132
+ The cultivation of personal
+ religion, 133
+ Sobriety and temperance, 134
+ The cultivation of the various
+ powers of the soul, 135
+ The proper application of every
+ capacity, 136
+ All such different from restraints
+ imposed by human authority, 137
+Duties to society in general, 138
+ To families, 139
+ To civil communities, 141
+ Owing by masters and servants, 142
+ Lawful civil governors and the
+ people under them, 143
+Duty of the civil magistrate, 144
+Duties of the people in regard to
+ the choice of their civil rulers, 145
+ --and to their obedience to
+ them, 148
+Duty of people living under civil
+ governments not sanctioned by
+ God's authority, 151
+The doctrine evil, that so long as
+ any law exists it ought to be
+ obeyed, 155
+To promote the real welfare of
+ civil society, the duty of nil, 156
+To classes of men, of whatever kind, 157
+To the Church of Christ, 158
+To abide by all the ordinances
+ of divine grace, 159
+To support the ordinances of
+ religion, where enjoyed, 159
+To maintain the rights and
+ privileges of the Church, 160
+To unite the various Churches
+ of Christ, 161
+To enlarge the Church, 163
+ --through Bible Societies, 163
+ Missions, at home, 164
+ --to the heathen, 165
+ --to the Jews, 167
+To the Mediator, as Lord of all, 168
+ To declare the glory of God, 169
+ To maintain the truth, by
+ profession and practice, 169
+ --of God's character, 170
+ --of God's government, 171
+ --of the relations of the persons
+ of the ever-blessed Trinity in
+ the Everlasting Covenant, 171
+ --of the mediatorial character
+ and glory of Christ, 171
+ --of the influences of his word
+ and Spirit, 172
+ --of the atonement and intercession
+ of Christ, 172
+ --of the Headship of Christ, 172
+ over the Church, 172
+ over the nations, 173
+ --of man's depravity and inability
+ to restore himself, 175
+Covenanting should engage all
+ to every former good attainment, 176
+ --to cleave to new correct views
+ of truth and duty, 177
+ --to abandon the evil in the vow
+ unobserved at the making of it, 178
+Covenanting does not shackle
+ inquiry, 179
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+COVENANTING CONFERS OBLIGATION.
+
+Covenanting confers obligation by
+ the authority of God, 181
+Personal and social--on the
+ Covenanting parties, 182
+ Such are represented as bound--are
+ said to be joined to the
+ Lord--to take hold of his
+ covenant--to cleave to him, 183
+God enjoins obedience as the
+ fulfilment of Covenant duties, 184
+ --that the vow be paid, 186
+Difficulty considered, 187
+He threatens those who keep not
+ his covenant, 187
+Social Covenanting entails obligation
+ on the society till the end
+ of the covenant be attained, 189
+ Because by it, Covenants are
+ made in the name of posterity, 189
+ Because the Church is one in
+ all ages, 190
+ Because of the Church's social
+ character, 192
+ Every adult member of the
+ Church engaged to its
+ privileges and duties, 193
+ Children of church members
+ are members of the Church, and
+ therefore under obligation, 193
+ The privileges enjoyed by
+ children show them to be
+ under obligation, 194
+Social Covenanting entails obligation
+ on the society till the end
+ of the covenant be attained--
+ Because Social Covenanting,
+ approved in Scripture,
+ conferred obligation, 196
+ Because the ends of such covenants
+ may not be attained
+ during the lives of those
+ who entered into them, 197
+ Because the people of God
+ view themselves bound by
+ anterior engagements of
+ his Church, 198
+ Because the Lord himself
+ views his Church as bound
+ by these, 199
+ Covenanting entails obligation
+ even on the unbeliever
+ who vows and swears, 201
+ Even those in the Church who
+ do not formally Covenant
+ are under obligation, 203
+ A minority in a church or
+ nation are bound by Covenant
+ engagements, though
+ the others cast them off, 204
+ Covenanting does not implicate
+ conscience, 205
+ That men are bound by previous
+ engagements is no reason why
+ they should not Covenant, 207
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+COVENANTING PROVIDED FOR IN THE EVERLASTING COVENANT.
+
+SECTION I.
+
+In regard to sinners, the exercise
+ provided for in the Covenant of
+ Redemption, 210
+ That covenant considered, 210
+ In that, Christ represented the
+ elect, 211
+ In that, the promises accepted
+ in Covenanting made to the
+ Surety, 212
+The people of God Covenant on
+ the ground of the righteousness
+ of Christ--the condition of that
+ Covenant, 214
+ Believers given to Christ in
+ that Covenant, 215
+The elect chosen in Christ, that
+ in union to him they might perform
+ the duty, 216
+
+SECTION II.
+
+Covenanting, under every
+ dispensation, provided for, 218
+Exhibitions of Christ the chief
+ blessings of the Covenant, common
+ to all of them, 219
+The erection and continuance of
+ the Church in the world flows
+ from that, 220
+True religion represented as a
+ covenant with God, 221
+Revelation of the will of God
+ termed a covenant, 223
+In the Everlasting Covenant,
+ provision made for Covenanting
+ under the patriarchal and levitical
+ dispensations, 224
+The acknowledgments and conduct
+ of believers in those times
+ illustrate this, 224
+Provision made through promises, 226
+Provision made through types, 226
+ --typical persons, 227
+ --places, 227
+ --things, 228
+ --seasons, 228
+ --acts, 229
+ --miracles, 230
+ --teaching of prophets, 232
+ --whole of Old Testament, 232
+ Designations, 232
+ Terms, 233
+ Reconciliation and atonement, 233
+Provision made for Covenanting
+ under last dispensation, 236
+This acknowledged by believers
+ in the apostolic age, 236
+Provision made through injunctions
+ of last inspired writers, 237
+ --whole of New Testament, 238
+New Testament contains same
+ kind of expressions as the Old
+ in reference to Covenant, 238
+Covenant of God a testament, 241
+Covenanting not a mere Jewish
+ thing, 244
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+COVENANTING ADAPTED TO THE MORAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN.
+
+Adapted to that, when in innocence, 246
+ according to scripture account
+ of that constitution, 246
+ Because the law of God to
+ him in innocence, of a covenant
+ form, 248
+ To Adam, as an individual, 248
+ --as representative of his
+ posterity, 250
+Adapted to that, when in a state
+ of grace, 251
+ Inasmuch as gracious capacities
+ lead to acquiescence in
+ what God requires, 251
+ --as invitations to accede to it
+ are accepted by the regenerate, 254
+The Covenant of Works a reality, 256
+The wicked alone not in covenant, 259
+Those who are in covenant with
+ God make and keep covenant
+ engagements, 263
+State of those not in covenant
+ with God dreadful, 265
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+COVENANTING ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSES OF GOD.
+
+Argument for Covenanting, from the
+ Divine purposes, stated, 268
+System of things pre-determined
+ in order to Covenanting,
+ Creation, 268
+Arrangements of an ordinary
+ providence, 268
+Covenant of God ordained by him, 271
+ That was Appointed, 271
+ established, 272
+ and therefore according to his
+ purpose, 273
+ commanded, 274
+ stands according to a sovereign
+ decree, 275
+A people were foreordained to
+ make solemn vows, 277
+ were formed, 277
+ were appointed, 280
+ were written in the book of
+ life, 282
+The people of God an elect people, 283
+ were elected from transgressors
+ and their works, 283
+ were chosen in Christ, 284
+ were elected to covenant
+ obedience, 285
+ were elected to privileges that
+ belong only to those in covenant
+ with him, 286
+Theirs is the heavenly calling, 286
+ the blessing of Justification, 288
+ the adoption of sons, 289
+ the blessing of sanctification, 291
+To them belong the benefits of
+ Redemption, 292
+ assurance of God's love, 293
+ peace of conscience, 293
+ joy in the Holy Ghost, 294
+ increase of grace, 296
+ perseverance in grace, 297
+ eternal glory, 298
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+COVENANTING SANCTIONED BY THE DIVINE EXAMPLE.
+
+Explanation of the argument, 300
+God himself has entered into
+ covenant engagements, 300
+ in the covenant of Redemption, 301
+ with man in innocence, 302
+ with men in Christ, 302
+The Lord Jesus on earth illustrated
+ in his practice the duty
+ of Covenanting, 302
+The Lord, in entering into covenant,
+ provided an example for imitation, 303
+ It is possible, after some manner,
+ to imitate God in Covenanting, 304
+ It is desirable, 304
+ It is a duty, 305
+ Shown from the fourth
+ commandment, 306
+ various other injunctions, 306
+The exercise of following the Divine
+ example in Covenanting important, 308
+To follow that example in this,
+ obligatory through life, and in
+ all ages, 309
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+COVENANTING A PRIVILEGE OF BELIEVERS.
+
+A spiritual privilege what, 311
+Evidence that Covenanting is so, 311
+ Believers a people near to God, 311
+ --in the gracious presence of
+ God, 312
+ They Covenanting, see God, 313
+ --know God and are known of Him, 315
+To those Covenanting, the Lord is
+ favourable, 316
+Those Covenanting, enjoy communion
+ with God, 317
+By his love the Lord constrains
+ his people to take hold on his
+ covenant, 318
+The observing of the other duties
+ of the Covenant, as well as the
+ taking hold of it, a privilege, 319
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+COVENANTING ENFORCED BY THE GRANT OF COVENANT SIGNS AND SEALS.
+
+Design of the gracious grant of
+ Covenant signs and seals, 320
+
+SIGNS.
+
+The Rainbow, 321
+ a sign that the benefits of God's
+ Covenant should be conferred, 321
+ explicitly referred to in Scripture
+ as a sign, 322
+ presented before the prophet
+ Ezekiel in vision, at his entrance
+ upon an important mission, 324
+ displayed in vision introducing
+ prophetic part of the book of
+ Revelation, 325
+ presented in vision which exhibited
+ the two Witnesses who should
+ prophesy in sackcloth, 326
+ encouraging sign, 327
+Circumcision--
+ instituted, 327
+ introductory to other privileges, 328
+ enjoined under greatest penalty, 329
+ seal of Covenant, 330
+Baptism--
+ under New Testament dispensation,
+ what circumcision was under
+ the former, 330
+The Sabbath--
+ instituted from the beginning, 333
+ observed to the enjoyment of all
+ religious privileges, 333
+ has afforded calls for engaging
+ in the practice of vowing to
+ God, 334
+ affords provision for the
+ observance of every religious
+ service, 334
+ kept, to the attainment of the
+ most varied and extensive
+ good, 336
+The Priesthood--
+ a people in Covenant with God, 336
+ what among the Israelites, 337
+ a living sign, 338
+ a sign, as set apart to wait on
+ the ordinances of grace, 339
+ Term, a denomination of God's
+ Covenant people, 339
+Those faithful to the Covenant of
+ the priesthood approved, and the
+ desecrators thereof condemned, 340
+The priesthood recognised in all
+ ages, 341
+Difficulty in reference to priesthood
+ under the law made without an
+ oath considered and obviated, 342
+The priesthood dependent on the
+ priesthood of Christ, 344
+The New Heart--
+ being a New Covenant blessing,
+ is a New Covenant sign, 345
+ contrasted with the unrenewed
+ heart subjected to various
+ changes, 346
+ presented under the aspect of a
+ circumcised heart, 347
+ a perfect heart, 347
+ one heart contrasted with the
+ double heart, 348
+ among the people of God in a
+ social capacity, 348
+Christ--
+ a sign of the fact of the
+ Everlasting Covenant, 350
+ a sign of the Covenant's
+ ratification, 351
+ a sign of the dispensation of its
+ blessings, 352
+ a sign by which the Covenant
+ should be had in remembrance, 353
+ a sign of the performance of its
+ duties, 354
+ a transcendently glorious sign, 354
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+COVENANTING PERFORMED IN FORMER AGES WITH APPROBATION FROM ABOVE.
+
+General remarks, 358
+The Lord approved of engagements
+ made in Personal Covenanting, 358
+ --in Social Covenanting, 359
+We have encouragement to make
+ vows, the engagements of which
+ are lawful, 363
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+COVENANTING PREDICTED IN PROPHECY.
+
+Nature of the argument exhibited, 364
+Force of it depends on the
+ manifestation of God's will, 365
+Predicted in reference to Old
+ Testament times, 366
+Predicted in reference to New
+ Testament times, 368
+Important to attend to such prophetic
+ intimations, 368
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+COVENANTING RECOMMENDED BY THE PRACTICE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.
+
+Argument unfolded, 369
+Practice recommended by the example
+ of the Church, 369
+ --by the manifestation of Divine
+ favour made in enabling the
+ Church to act to the fulfilment
+ of his designs, 370
+The practice of the Church in the
+ first three centuries after the
+ apostolic age, recommends the
+ duty, 370
+Also that of the Churches of the
+ Reformation, 371
+--of the Churches abroad, 372
+--of the Church in Britain and
+ Ireland, 373
+Example in this, to be imitated, 376
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+SEASONS OF COVENANTING.
+
+Never unsuitable, 377
+Special seasons, 378
+Times of hazard and distress, 378
+When religion is low, and error,
+ and vice, and ungodliness,
+ prevail, 378
+Times of reviving, 378
+When the friends of truth unite
+ for its maintenance, either in
+ an incorporate, or other cooperative
+ capacity, 378
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+The exercise important, 379
+ advantageous, 379
+ necessary, 379
+It should therefore be observed, 380
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+A, 381
+B, 383
+C, 391
+D, 393
+
+
+
+
+THE ORDINANCE OF COVENANTING.
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+To illustrate the nature and present the claims of an observance so
+carefully kept by many of the best of our race as religious Covenanting,
+is an attempt so inviting as to seem not unworthy of the application of
+the greatest diligence and care, and the most varied and extensive
+resources of the human mind. What the word of God unfolds concerning it,
+is addressed to the most resolute consideration of all, and is capable
+of engaging the most extensive and prolonged investigation. And yet,
+though none have found this subject, like all God's judgments, else than
+a great deep, still in meditating upon it, the ignorant have been
+brought to true knowledge, and the wise have increased in wisdom. "The
+secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his
+covenant."[1] Impressions of its importance have universally continued
+to appear on the heart of man; but with that varied indistinctness which
+may, and ought to be remedied, those have been marked. In the Scriptures
+alone, its precise character is drawn. Mutual federal engagements,
+concerning things religious and civil, whether entered into merely by
+simple promise, or confirmed by solemn oath, have been made from the
+highest antiquity to the present. The hostility to some such
+engagements, and also the proud disregard for their obligations, which
+have been evinced by some in all ages, demand a most careful examination
+into their nature and design. And the delightful approval of conscience
+awarded to right-heartedness in making and fulfilling such of these as
+were warranted, gives a reason for the careful study of their character,
+the most pleasing and satisfactory. Furnished with the key of Scripture,
+approaching the subject, we are enabled to open the mysteries in which
+ignorance and prejudice had shut it up; and equipped with the armour of
+light shooting forth its heavenly radiance, in safety to ourselves we
+assail the darkness thrown around it, and behold the instant flight of
+the spirits of error which that darkness contains. Standing alone in
+beauteous attractions descended from heaven upon it, this service
+beckons us to approach it, and engages to connect extensive good with a
+proper attention to its claims. The observance, under various phases, is
+described in Scripture as an undisputed and indisputable reality. There,
+its nature and the manner of performing it are defined; its character as
+a duty, the compass of its matter, and the obligation entailed by
+engaging in it are exhibited; the provision made for the continuance of
+it, its adaptations, sovereign appointment, sanction, and character as a
+privilege, and powerful motives to engage in it afforded in its signs,
+are presented; and its history, anterior and prospective, its
+recommendations found in the practice of the church in gospel times, its
+advantages, and claims, are distinctly revealed. Along with kindred
+institutions, all claiming an origin essentially Divine, but
+distinguished from them, it demands a regard at least not less than what
+they share. Embodying in itself all the others, in some aspects of its
+character it presents these united in a singular and beauteous whole.
+By reason of the light broken by error falling upon it, many who
+contemplate its features apprehend not the individuality it displays,
+but, reflecting on each part separately, connect them so as not to be
+impressed by the object presented in the union of all. Like the distinct
+objects which make up the entire landscape, when each one is examined by
+itself, the various religious exercises which enter into this, if each
+be recognised alone, leave no impression of the whole as it would appear
+if contemplated at once. Prayer and the offering of praise are
+universally admitted to be duties of religion. The Scriptures announce a
+place among these for the exercise of solemn Covenanting. Nay, as
+including these services and others, though as different from each of
+them, they give its delineation. To enable those who ponder the
+scriptural representation of it to answer suitably the Divine demand,
+"Understandest thou what thou readest?" prayer for heavenly illumination
+upon it is not merely desirable, but necessary; and by all who have felt
+its advantages, supplication for this in greater measure will be
+habitually offered. In order to a proper investigation of the subject,
+care must be taken to avoid two extremes;--that minute analysis of it
+that would annihilate the observance itself, by resolving it into its
+constituent parts;--and that slight examination of it which would result
+in an estimate of itself and its elements, alike vague and undefined.
+What God hath joined let not man put asunder. And efforts should be
+made, and supplications offered, to obtain guidance on this point into
+all truth. Like a refracting medium which presents disjointed
+parts--each also deformed, instead of one beauteous image of a
+resplendent scene, prejudice, on the one hand, instead of displaying the
+exercise with the fulness and splendour of unmarred truth, has obtruded
+its ideal misrepresentations of it, alike inconsistent with themselves
+and with its real character; while, like rapid motion preventing minute
+discovery, on the other a mere glance bestowed, where careful
+observation was requisite, insufficient for apprehending the whole as an
+inviting complex object of research, and much more unfitted to discover
+the admitted excellence of the duties it includes, has led to an
+exhibition of it also alike derogatory of the one and the other. There
+is but one situation where, like Mount Nebo affording to the man of God
+a view of the promised land, we can rightly examine it. If on the mount
+of Divine revelation with the eye of faith, which, like the eye of
+Moses, with age waxes not dim, we explore it, in its fairest
+proportions, like the land of Canaan, will we apprehend it; and like
+that distinguished patriarch, who was destined to enjoy blessings of
+God's covenant more valuable by far than a temporal rest, we will attain
+to extensive spiritual, and, in due time, eternal good.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Psalm xxv. 14.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+NATURE OF COVENANTING.
+
+
+A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given
+terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or
+between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between
+parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the
+testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of
+relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations
+among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and
+nation, and between man and man, in some respects, each respectively,
+independent of the other, but also between master and servant, and
+between rulers and their subjects. There too is described an engagement
+between God, and Adam as the representative of the human race, which, to
+say the least, cannot without the most obvious perversion of language be
+represented as other than a covenant. It is alluded to in the words,
+"They, like men (or, _Adam_), have transgressed the covenant."[2] And
+was it not in reality a covenant? There is revealed the Covenant of
+Redemption--that covenant which from the days of eternity was made
+between the Father and the Son, with the concurrence of the Holy Ghost,
+for the salvation of the elect. There too, that covenant is made known
+as established with men, that is, made with them or dispensed to them.
+Under this last aspect, it appears--"The Covenant of Grace." And there,
+are men encouraged to enter into covenant with God by taking hold of
+this covenant.
+
+The conditions of a covenant, or the stipulation on the one hand, and
+the re-stipulation on the other, are the things promised in the covenant
+by the parties to one another. These may be mutual services, as is
+sometimes the case among men; or, obedience and good unmerited through
+God's favour bestowed, as in the case of man in innocence; or, obedience
+and sufferings, and a high reward for these exemplified in the Covenant
+of Redemption alone; or, the righteousness of Christ on the one hand, as
+in the last case, and free grace on the other, in the Covenant of Grace.
+
+Sinners redeemed are in covenant with God. The term _covenant_
+designating their relation to him as a people is not figuratively
+applied to it. Were it so, there should be no ground for admitting the
+fact of any covenant even among men. True, the term is put to denote the
+ordinances of the material universe.[3] But to maintain that it is in
+precisely the same manner used to denominate any mutual relation among
+moral beings, is to prefer an assumption manifestly gratuitous, and
+completely at variance with the obvious truth, that for a race
+interested in the blessings of the Covenant of Grace, these ordinances
+after the sin of man were continued.[4] Though it was ordained that men
+should enter into covenant, the covenant is not like the laws of the
+lower creation, an absolute appointment taking effect without regard to
+the resolutions of men. As assuredly as the ordinances of the material
+heavens and the earth will be conducive to the accomplishment of the
+ends contemplated by infinite wisdom in their appointment, will the
+covenant with God entered into by those accepted of him be made to
+fulfil its design. But this it will be employed to do in the character
+of a sovereign arrangement suited not to unintelligent creation, but to
+the moral agent man. As far above the interference of man as is the
+government of the external universe, is that designated the covenant, as
+ordained. But adapted completely to him as a creature exercising
+volition, and in a state of responsibility, is every such relation in
+its essential character.
+
+This relation is marked by features which distinguish it from a mere
+law. The expressions, _to pass into_, _to enter into_, employed in the
+one case, are totally inapplicable in the other. The covenant is often
+represented as forsaken both as a covenant and as a law; but is
+exhibited as gone into only as a covenant. Men are represented as
+_joining_ themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant. But none
+are so spoken of in regard to the law. The Lord said unto Abraham, "I
+will establish my covenant between me and thee,"[5] in terms which refer
+not to the covenant as if it were exclusively a law. Nor does the Lord
+promise to make with any a law, though he has given his promise to make
+with his chosen ones a covenant.
+
+This relation with God, as a covenant, has parties. Both by the Lord and
+by his people in Christ, it is as a covenant mutually entered into. "I
+will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God."[6]
+
+Besides having parties,--one essential of a covenant in its proper
+acceptation, this relation with God has conditions. On the part of the
+High and Holy One, these are the promises of good for believers made in
+the Covenant of Redemption, and made known in the revelation of the
+Covenant of Grace. Like the light of heaven continually beaming down
+upon our world; like the sound of many waters falling on the ear, these
+continuously are fully and freely addressed in the gospel. And like the
+beams of the sun appropriated and reflected by the dew of the morning,
+and the rain and snow that come down from heaven drunk in by the earth
+prepared for it, these are accepted; and thence shines forth the beauty
+of holiness, and appear those fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus
+Christ unto the glory and praise of God. "Incline your ear, and come
+unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an
+everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David."[7] On the part of
+the believer, his faith and imperfect obedience, though necessary, are
+not a condition. His title to acceptance is founded on the perfect
+righteousness of Christ. In reference, not merely to the actual
+righteousness wrought in him, but also to the condition of that covenant
+on which he lays hold, which was fulfilled on behalf of all the children
+thereof, he says, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength."[8]
+
+This relation is the Covenant of Grace. It was revealed as God's
+covenant. It is that covenant which God established with Noah, which he
+made with Abraham, sware unto Isaac, confirmed unto Jacob for a law, and
+to Israel for an everlasting covenant. It is none other than that
+covenant which was confirmed of God in Christ, of which Jesus is the
+Mediator, and which has been commanded for ever.
+
+Covenanting in civil life is the exercise of entering into a covenant
+engagement, or of renewing it.
+
+The _term_ is almost wholly confined to Covenanting with God, and shall
+be so used. In the ordinary intercourse of men the _practice_ is common:
+in religion it is essential.
+
+Covenanting is the exercise of either entering, in an individual or a
+social capacity, solemnly and formally in to the Covenant of Grace, or
+of renewing it.
+
+From the definition it follows, that by Covenanting men do make a
+covenant with God. The renovation of a covenant is not less a covenant
+than was the original bond. In Covenanting is given that acquiescence
+in the conditions of the Covenant of Grace which is an essential of a
+covenant, and the free offer to enter into it being continued,
+acceptance in the service is enjoyed. As certainly, therefore, as that
+called the Covenant of Grace, is in _reality_ a covenant, is every
+lawful engagement entered into by solemnly Covenanting with God
+possessed of the character of a covenant.
+
+But such a covenant is not distinct from the Covenant of Redemption, nor
+from the Covenant of Grace. It is dependent on that covenant as made
+with the Mediator, and consistent with it as established with men. In
+all the three cases, the God of grace is one of the contracting parties.
+In the Covenant of Redemption, the Redeemer himself, as the surety of
+the elect, was the other. In the Covenant of Grace, the people of God
+united to Christ, and drawing near to God through him, are the other
+party. And in the case of personal or social covenanting, that party may
+be an individual or a joint number, approaching in dependence on the
+grace of Christ. The promise of the Covenant of Redemption was, a people
+elected to the blessings of time and eternity, these blessings
+themselves, and all the countenance which the surety should receive in
+fulfilling his work of righteousness, and all the glory that should come
+to him as the Mediator--God and man--in obtaining for his people and
+bestowing upon them the benefits of the great salvation. In all the
+three cases, that promise in all its extent is exhibited. In the
+Covenant of Redemption, that promise was made to the Redeemer himself.
+In the Covenant of Grace, and in every covenant with God into which his
+people by taking hold upon that covenant may enter, it is an object of
+their faith. The blessings of time and eternity constitute the part of
+the promise offered to believers, through Christ. But in taking hold
+upon that covenant, they testify to their satisfaction with that part of
+the promise that peculiarly belongs to the Saviour, and accept of the
+benefits offered to themselves. In all the three cases, the
+righteousness of Christ is the sole ground on which a title to the
+promise can rest. In the first case, it is that righteousness as wrought
+out by him. In the others, it is that righteousness imputed through
+grace to each believer. In all, obedience to the law of God is required.
+In the first, Christ gave that perfect obedience infinitely meritorious,
+which, along with his sufferings of infinite value, constituted his work
+of righteousness. In the Covenant dispensed, all duty is incumbent on
+those under it, to be discharged so as to afford not a ground of merit
+before God, but at least a testimony to the perfection of his laws. And
+all duty may be frequently engaged to, and special duties in given
+circumstances, as they present themselves, may be made the subject of a
+solemn covenant promise to God. Hence, a covenant made in the exercise
+of Covenanting, is a covenant not essentially new. As members of one
+glorious body united to Christ, the Head, all believers are in the
+Covenant of Grace. But their exercises in regard to that covenant,
+though in spirit essentially one, do in their number, and variety, and
+form, greatly differ. And of these exercises, none are more
+distinguished from one another than their solemn covenant engagements.
+Some with greater or less blame renew these seldom. Others faultily
+refrain altogether from renewing them in their social capacities. But
+when these are made and renewed with due care, there is, according to
+circumstances, a great diversity in their character. Each engagement has
+its own peculiar features; though each is associated with all the others
+in presenting some aspect of none other Covenant than that of Grace.
+
+God's covenant is the Covenant of Redemption; or the Covenant of Grace;
+or a covenant with God, made in the actual exercise of Covenanting.
+
+A covenant with God is a form of expression that will be applied only to
+the last of these cases.
+
+It must be admitted that the formal exercise of Covenanting is not
+indispensably necessary in order to the attainment of an interest in the
+Covenant of Grace. Through God's free favour, and not because of any
+service, however dutiful, that could be performed, are any brought into
+this relation. Many go the whole round of religious services, and yet
+remain uninterested in the benefits of salvation; while others, whose
+external privileges are by no means so abundant as the privileges
+enjoyed by those, may be enabled to cleave to God's covenant. It is
+God's prerogative to make efficacious what means of grace he will; and
+when and in what measure he will, to give them effect. The types and
+symbols of a former period were blessed to the souls of men, as well as
+the fuller revelations of succeeding times. And ordinances which in due
+time were to pass away, were, during the term of their appointment, to
+be acknowledged by the extension of his grace to those who waited on
+them, as well as the institutions to follow in their room. And sinners
+in every variety of circumstances have been brought into covenant with
+God. When the gospel is preached to the young--unfitted to apprehend for
+the time being the nature or design of some institutions of Divine
+grace--the Spirit of God may lead them to accept of the offered Saviour.
+Or when the glad tidings of salvation are proclaimed, not merely to
+those favoured by the advantages of education and christian society, but
+even to the most untutored and degraded of the family of man, a willing
+mind may be vouchsafed from above to rely upon him. Then the blessings
+of his covenant are apprehended and accepted. And though many who
+profess to seek these good things, may, by reason of unbelief, fail to
+obtain them, they will afford to such objects of sovereign mercy, as the
+chosen of God, increasing reasons of gratitude and joy. Only they who
+are without Christ, are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
+strangers from the covenants of promise. All who are in him, though once
+like those, who were sometimes afar off, are made nigh by his blood. It
+is by faith in Christ that men become the children of God. While waiting
+on any of the means of grace, elect souls may, for the first time, be
+enabled to exercise it; and then, even at that time, becomes theirs the
+inheritance of the promise.
+
+God's covenant may, for the first time, be entered into in the exercise
+of Covenanting. It cannot be entered into at any time but by faith--an
+element essential in covenanting. But it may be primarily laid hold upon
+in some instances in the formal performance of that exercise. An
+individual may wait on the ordinances of Divine grace, not being in
+covenant. He may have been plied by the expostulations of the servants
+of Christ, because of continuing regardless of the offers of mercy, not
+having acceded to them. The exercise of entering into covenant with God
+may have been pressed upon his attention. He is doubtful whether or not
+he has received the Lord Jesus. In reality he has not acted faith upon
+him. He studies the subject of Covenanting, endeavours to examine the
+claims which the exercise has upon him. He is convinced of sin, but has
+not been converted. He feels himself acted on by the fear of wrath, and
+drawn by the desire of good to cast himself upon the care of the
+Redeemer. He essays the work of preparation. God is leading him on by
+the common operations of his Spirit, though still he is in darkness. He
+endeavours to bring himself up to the resolution of giving himself away
+to God. Corruption within, however, opposes his purpose. Yet he is
+urged forward to an exercise which, if performed in a proper spirit,
+would be accepted, but which, of himself, in his present condition,
+notwithstanding all his fears and desires, he cannot enter upon aright.
+He attempts to pray and make supplication--yea, even he endeavours to
+perform the service. Strength is given him to do it with acceptance;
+and, through marvellous grace, he stands among the children of the
+Covenant! He might have been still left to himself; his promises might
+have been insincere, and the covenant which he professed to make with
+his lips he might have profaned. But though at the commencement of his
+exercises there was no gracious emotion felt by him, he was led by an
+overruling Providence to adopt means of seeking Divine favour which God
+should bless. He was brought from the dream of desire to the reality of
+enjoyment; from the state of one in darkness, groping his way, to the
+light to which, by his own efforts, he could not have come; from the
+paralysis of moral imbecility to the strength which enabled him to
+stretch out his hand and take hold on God's Covenant.
+
+Or, when the people of God may direct their faces to the work of
+renewing their covenant engagements with him, some who might formerly
+have been far from God may be led to the use of preparatory means, and,
+when the time of Covenanting arrives, find themselves, for the first,
+gifted with strength to pledge themselves to his service, and thereafter
+feel themselves associated by ties indissoluble to his people, and
+blessed with the covenant heritage of those who fear his name.
+
+Such are not mere suppositions. They are consistent with the ordinary
+procedure of God in extending grace to those who wait upon his
+ordinances, however unworthy they may have been before. They are in
+harmony with the spirit of the expression _to take hold_ upon the
+Covenant of God--which obviously implies, according to the state of
+those to whom it is applied, one or other of two things:--to engage to
+the service of the Lord by covenant; or to renew such an engagement; and
+are warranted by such statements as the exhortation, "Come and let us
+join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant, never to be
+forgotten." Such an address may be made either to the wicked or to the
+righteous.--To the wicked, that they may, with their whole heart and
+soul, depart from the evil of their doings, and give themselves to the
+Lord; to the righteous, that they may so give themselves again; to the
+wicked, that they may prepare their hearts to seek God--but not by any
+effort of their own in a legal spirit, to commend themselves to him, and
+then to enter into his covenant; and to all, that in a becoming frame of
+mind they may take hold upon it. Whether or not many are brought to God
+in such circumstances it may not be easy to decide; yet it cannot be
+affirmed that none in this manner are joined unto him. To engage in the
+exercise of Covenanting with the hope of being converted, is to act
+under a misapprehension of its design; but who can say that God does
+not, when this is practised, bring to himself? None could have any
+encouragement to perform the service, were they satisfied that they
+would not act sincerely in it; but to perform it they are not the less
+called to make preparation. None can be accepted in the exercise but the
+covenant children, but the most abundant reasons there are why all
+should attempt it; and who can tell what God will do in a season of
+grace?
+
+In Covenanting, if God's covenant has been laid hold on before, it is
+then again solemnly acceded to or renewed. It is the people of God, not
+the wicked, who covenant. "Unto the wicked, God saith, What hast thou to
+do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in
+thy mouth?"[9] The wicked, as in the former case, may be brought, in the
+use of means, to attempt the exercise, but if in that they are accepted,
+in the character of new creatures they perform it; but if the change
+produced upon the state and character does not take place at the moment
+of Covenanting, but before it, then the exercise is a renewal of the
+covenant. When, therefore, those who have been, for a period long or
+short, the people of God, engage in this, they transact a renovation.
+The young believer who performs the exercise does this, though his age
+in grace may not exceed a few days or hours of the blessed life. This,
+the Christian who has long been in progress towards the inheritance
+above promised in the covenant, going into that performance, effects.
+This renewal all the saints of God do make, when in any circumstances
+they draw near to him to consecrate themselves and all that concerns
+them to his service.
+
+
+THE VOW.
+
+A vow falls to be considered in connection with the subject of
+Covenanting.
+
+"A vow is of the like nature with a promissory oath, and ought to be
+made with the like religious care, and to be performed with the like
+faithfulness. It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone;
+and that it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily, out of faith
+and conscience of duty, in way of thankfulness for mercy received, or
+for the obtaining of what we want; whereby we more strictly bind
+ourselves to necessary duties, or to other things, so far and so long as
+they may fitly conduce thereunto."[10]
+
+A vow is made to God alone. In various passages of Scripture, it is said
+explicitly to be made to the Lord. David "vowed unto the mighty God of
+Jacob."[11] "Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord."[12] In others it is
+manifest from the connection that the vow was made to the Lord. "Jacob
+vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this
+way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so
+that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be
+my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's
+house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth
+unto thee."[13] Hannah addressed him to whom she vowed, "O Lord of
+Hosts."[14] In only one passage of Scripture are any represented as
+vowing to another than God himself,[15] but there the judgments of God
+are threatened on them--vowing vows to the queen of heaven, as guilty of
+idolatry. And even some who had been idolaters, so soon as they were
+taught the claims of Jehovah upon their obedience, made vows unto
+him.[16]
+
+A vow is a solemn promise to God. It is explicitly described as such.
+"That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform: even a
+free-will-offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God,
+which thou hast promised with thy mouth."[17] It is of the like nature
+with a promissory oath. "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an
+oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall
+do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."[18] And from the
+fact that vows, by sacrifice and thanksgiving and otherwise, were paid
+to the Lord, this appears. "O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy
+vows."[19] "So will I sing praise unto thy name forever, that I may
+daily perform my vows."[20]
+
+A vow is to be made voluntarily. The verb (נדר) translated
+_to vow_, in its literal acceptation means to beat out grain from the
+sheaf on the thrashing-floor: hence, as the corn is thus scattered, it
+came to signify to scatter, or to be liberal; and thence, finally, to
+offer willingly and freely. The noun (נדר) accordingly is
+put to denote the act of offering, or of making a promise, to God, and
+also what in this is spontaneously offered or promised. Moreover, in a
+passage formerly quoted, it is described as a free-will-offering. The
+vow is sometimes made in a spontaneous effusion of gratitude. Thus David
+sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, after the
+Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.[21] Often it
+is made in order to obtain some benefit. "I will go into thy house with
+burnt-offerings; I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered,
+and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble."[22] And like that of
+Jacob at Bethel, who was overpowered with the vision of the ladder, and
+desirous of obtaining the promise there made to him, a vow may not
+unfrequently proceed from both gratitude and hope.
+
+A vow must not be inconsistent with the requirements of the Divine law.
+What the Lord hath forbidden, he will not accept. "Cursed be the
+deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth
+unto the Lord a corrupt thing."[23] To promise to him what is beyond our
+power, is to mock him. Some vows of females and children were not
+accepted, because such interfered with services due by them to their
+families, over which, in things lawful, their husbands and fathers had
+supreme power.
+
+A vow is never made but in the exercise of Covenanting. The vow which
+Jacob vowed at Bethel was made upon the reception of God's gracious
+covenant promise there tendered to him. Again, "Israel vowed a vow unto
+the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my
+hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."[24] In this manner at
+Hormah, they testified that they agreed to that promise of the Covenant
+that had been made at Sinai, which is expressed in the words, "Behold, I
+drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite,
+and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,"[25] and thus made
+a covenant. From the words, "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear
+an oath to bind his soul with a bond," it may be concluded that either a
+vow taken, or an oath, binds the soul. That the former binds the soul is
+most manifest from the language, "Every vow of a widow, and of her that
+is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against
+her."[26] The bond is a covenant bond, for it is said, "I will cause you
+to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the
+covenant."[27] The word (מסרת) for _bond_, in the later
+prophet is a co-derivate with that (אסר) for _bond_, used by
+Moses, and has the same import.
+
+
+THE OATH.
+
+The OATH also claims consideration as related to Covenanting.
+
+"A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein, upon just
+occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he
+asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or
+falsehood of what he sweareth. The name of God only is that by which men
+ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and
+reverence: therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and
+dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to
+be abhorred."[28]
+
+To SWEAR is to give or use an oath. "The men said unto her, we will be
+blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear."[29] "I will
+perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham."[30] And to make, or to
+enter into an oath, being the same as to give it, each of these is also
+to swear.
+
+It is by the Lord, or by the name of the Lord, and by him alone that all
+ought to swear. One of the verbs (אלה) in the Hebrew which
+denote _to swear_, would seem to be derived from a word (אל)
+which signifies God, and accordingly refers to the making of an
+affirmation by using the name of God.[31] And the corresponding noun
+(אלה) for _oath_, in like manner bears literally a meaning
+expressive of a means of calling on that holy name. Both occur in the
+sacred original of the passage. "If any man trespass against his
+neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the
+oath come before thine altar in this house: then hear thou in
+heaven."[32] And where a verb of a different origin is employed, the
+same is manifest. Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, "I
+will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the
+earth."[33] The Lord himself said, "Ye shall not swear by my name
+falsely."[34] And explicit is the injunction, "Thou shalt fear the Lord
+thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."[35] Nor is an oath
+to be made by the name of any other. "Men verily swear by the greater;"
+and therefore lawfully by God alone. The names of the gods of the
+heathen were not even to be mentioned; and hence were not to be used in
+making an oath. Nay, the Israelites were explicitly forbidden to swear
+by them. Nor by any creature, and consequently not by the name of such
+ought any one to swear. "Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is
+God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by
+Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou
+swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or
+black."[36]
+
+The expression, _the Lord liveth_, is a form of the oath. "Though they
+say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely"[37] "Thou shalt swear,
+The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness."[38]
+
+An oath is sworn with the lifting up of the right hand. In vision
+presented before Daniel, the man clothed in linen "held up his right
+hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for
+ever."[39] John declares, "the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and
+upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that
+liveth for ever and ever."[40] The right hand is principally used among
+men in general; and accordingly, as when neither hand is specifically
+mentioned in any case, the right is understood, so we may conclude that
+the oath was made by the angel while he held up his right hand. The Lord
+sware "by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength."[41] He
+sometimes speaks of his promise to give the children of Israel the land
+of Canaan, as being made by swearing, and at others, as made by the
+lifting up of his hand.[42] And accordingly, like Abraham, who in
+lifting up his hand in reference to the goods that had belonged to the
+king of Sodom, unquestionably sware an oath, all who warrantably swear,
+make oath with the right hand lifted up towards heaven.
+
+The swearing of an oath is a devotional exercise. Every act performed in
+holding intercourse with God is religious; and therefore this. The
+performance of it is introduced along with that of other actions that
+certainly imply the rendering of religious homage. "Thou shalt fear the
+Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name." It is
+included in the exercises that embody the worship of God. Parallel to
+the last quoted passage is this which follows. "Him shall ye fear, and
+him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice." To swear by his
+name is not to do sacrifice; and is therefore to perform another part of
+his worship. The oath was wont to come before the altar of the Lord,
+where sacred services alone should be performed. As a form of calling on
+the name of God, it was associated with the exercise of giving thanks to
+him, and is regarded as a tender of devout obedience to him by him who
+said, "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."
+
+In the oath is implied a condensed adoration. It is made to God as
+distinguished from every creature, and recognises the whole revealed
+glory of his character. Whatever be the warranted form of the oath, it
+is made to the same all-glorious Being, and presents to him one
+celebration of his infinitely transcendent excellence. Declaring to him
+that the Lord liveth, it owns his wondrous self-existence. Offered to
+Him that liveth for ever and ever, it celebrates his eternal
+pre-existence and existence to eternal ages. Presented to him as God, it
+acknowledges that infinitude of perfection which none can by searching
+find out, but all moral creatures are bound to adore--the
+incomprehensible Spirit whom, though infinite in being, no man hath
+seen, nor can see. Addressed to him as the God of heaven and of the
+earth, it hails with reverence the overwhelming display of might
+omnipotent, wisdom boundless, goodness unlimited, and sovereignty
+absolute, made in the creation and upholding of matter and immortal
+spirits--and the holiness, justice, goodness, and truth evolved in the
+constitution of all created things. Made by his name as Lord of all, it
+gives acknowledgment to his infinitely wise and sovereign allotments to
+angels and men--to his undivided sovereignty over the numerous hosts of
+creation--to his title to the universal homage and continued obedience
+of all--to the glory of the adorable Lawgiver to heaven and earth, the
+present witness and future judge of his moral, though rebellious
+subjects--and to the unimpeachable rectitude of an administration that
+comprehends heaven, and earth, and hell, and extends from the origin of
+creatures to eternity. Sworn to him as the Amen, his truth and
+faithfulness keeping mercy and truth from generation to generation with
+gratitude it proclaims. And however used, it recognises him as the
+avenger of the oppressed, the friend of those who keep the truth, and
+the just God taking vengeance upon those who dishonour his name, or
+otherwise transgress his commands. But, above all, it gives honour to
+him as the God of salvation. To his sovereign mercy in providing
+deliverance for men from the days of eternity; to his sovereign kindness
+in proclaiming himself as a Saviour, and holding intercourse with men in
+order to their recovery from a state of condemnation; to his wondrous
+grace displayed in the government of all things for the good of his
+church, and in affording means of a reverential appeal to himself in the
+duties of religion, and especially in swearing by his name, it gives
+testimony in a manner peculiar to itself. Heaven, earth, and hell--the
+past, the present, and the future--the time that now is, the final
+audit, and an endless eternity--and above all, God himself, who can be
+compared with none other, at once it recognises as present. How solemn
+the performance of the act! God it invokes in every aspect of his
+character. More fully than any other exercise, his perfections and
+administration it contemplates, and in a manner all-important shows
+forth his praise.
+
+The oath is a solemn appeal to God, invoked as witness, that some
+statement made is true. The declaration may be an assertion concerning
+fact, or a promise. No creature, besides the being that gives the oath,
+may know certainly whether the statement be true or false; but God
+always knows, and he is called upon in this, as knowing the truth. In
+every case in which it is used, whether in secret or in public, it is
+the most complete evidence that can be afforded of the sincerity of
+those who swear; and in public, it is the highest satisfaction
+concerning any averment that men could demand. It is used to give the
+weight of God's testimony to show that a given statement is made in
+truth.
+
+In the swearing of a lawful oath, a covenant with God is made by the
+party that swears. Whatever be the nature of the responsibility
+connected with the act engaged in by whomsoever, it cannot be doubted
+that an unregenerate person cannot be accepted in it; but a true
+Christian in making oath lawfully, will be approved before God. To swear
+in suitable circumstances is the duty of all; but it is the privilege of
+those only who are in covenant with God. When the oath is given to
+confirm an assertion, it is sworn in confirmation of a covenant with
+God. First, when used, not in giving evidence before men, but in
+religious exercises strictly personal, the oath is never sworn but to
+confirm truth. An assertion made before God in giving adherence to
+truth, is an acquiescence in it, and being uttered in accordance with
+the requirement that truth be spoken, and implying an engagement to
+abide by it, is a solemn declaration of obligation to God. The Covenant
+of Grace presented under some aspect is thus agreed to; a covenant is
+made, and the swearing of the oath is its ratification. In these words,
+Israel were invited to take hold on God's Covenant. "If thou wilt
+return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me; and if thou wilt put
+away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not
+remove."[43] And the oath prescribed for them on returning was
+explicitly an averment of truth. "Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in
+truth, in judgment, and in righteousness." Likewise, to swear at any
+time devotionally, "the Lord liveth," is most solemnly to acquiesce in
+the injunctions to believe upon him which his word contains, and thus to
+accede to his Covenant. And what is true regarding such an
+acknowledgment of him as the ever-living One, obtains regarding the act
+of swearing to him for the purpose of attesting any other important
+truth. To swear to the truth of any declaration, is to swear to him as
+the God of truth, and accordingly by covenant to take hold upon him as
+such. Secondly, when the oath given to confirm an assertion is required
+by men having a right to claim it, those call upon the party to be
+sworn, to promise to them to speak the truth, and to invoke God to
+witness that the truth is spoken. The juror agrees to the demand, he
+accepts the condition, that his word and oath will be relied on, and he
+in giving his oath at once comes under a covenant obligation to man to
+speak the truth, and confirms his promise by an appeal to the God of
+truth. Thus, in a court of justice, or before a church court, a witness
+makes in reality a compact with the lawful authority that requires his
+oath, and swears in confirmation of his engagement. It is of equal
+consequence to the present argument whether he swear to the truth of a
+statement made before the taking of his oath, or first give his oath,
+and then make his promised representation. In the latter case, which is
+the most common, there is most manifestly made a covenant transaction
+between the witness and those in authority; but in the former, there is
+constituted an engagement not less really of a covenant character.
+Although, as in the case of giving an _affidavit_, the assertion may
+seem to precede the oath, yet, in reality, that is not accepted, and
+therefore is not completely made till the oath be given: and
+consequently, as in the other case, the assertion is that which is
+promised in the oath. In each, the witness comes under an engagement to
+speak the truth. It is one indeed generally of a short period, yet not
+on that account the less an engagement. In giving his testimony, he
+fulfils his covenant promise; and its effects in settling controversies,
+or leading to the execution of justice, may not be less important than
+those of a covenant, the fulfilment of the conditions of which might
+occupy a much longer time. Nor, when an oath is claimed and received by
+those in authority, is there a covenant made merely among men; but also
+by the juror, a covenant is made with God. The law of God requires the
+fulfilment of every lawful promise made by man to man; a simple promise
+to man, however, though God may be acknowledged in it, is not strictly a
+promise to Him. But by the appending of an oath, God is at once appealed
+to as a witness and judge, and as a party to a covenant between the
+juror and himself; and an obligation to God, as well as an engagement to
+men, is explicitly constituted. Were it not so, how could the addition
+of the oath by the juror increase the security given in the simple
+promise, and the Lord be called to judge him according to the truth or
+falsehood of what he might swear?[44] Under one aspect, the engagement
+with men entered into by swearing to the truth of an assertion, is
+different from the relation to God into which by swearing the juror is
+brought. Viewed as a covenant among men, God is not properly a party to
+it, but a witness. But those who require the oath being possessed of
+power deputed to them from above, the same engagement may be also
+considered as a covenant made with God by him who swears. The engagement
+viewed in the former light, appears as affording the matter of a
+covenant between the juror and Him by whom he swears; but, contemplated
+in the latter, stands forth as one made with God, through the
+instrumentality of his servants. The oath is sworn to himself; but He,
+and those whom he hath vested with office, will demand the fulfilment of
+it.
+
+When the oath usually represented as promissory is sworn, a covenant
+with God is thereby made. When such an oath is sworn to confirm a vow to
+God, made not before men, most manifestly a covenant with Him is
+constituted; but no less is a covenant with Him entered into when such
+an oath is given to men. By this species of oath is generally understood
+that which is used in reference to obligation to be fulfilled in the
+more or less distant future. It has been shown, that even the oath given
+to confirm an assertion, belongs to this class. Accordingly, all kinds
+of oaths are generally promissory. But while both species may not be
+implemented in some cases till the far distant future, some of an
+assertory nature may be performed at the time when they are sworn.
+Evidence has been given, that the latter kind of oaths, viewed as
+promissory, brings under an engagement to God. That both do so, even
+when taken by men, moreover farther appears. A vow is essentially a
+promise made to God, but to none other; and the fulfilment of the vow is
+required, at least in virtue of the making of it.[45] But not less does
+God require what is promised to another by oath, than what is vowed to
+himself. The vow binds the soul with a bond which cannot be else than
+the bond of a covenant with God; but that bond also which is made by
+swearing an oath to bind the soul being spoken of in the same manner as
+the bond made by the vow, cannot be another than the bond of a covenant
+with him.[46] God is properly a party to the covenant made in vowing to
+Him. When an oath is sworn at the desire of men, they are a party to the
+covenant that is entered into by him who swears; but God is party to a
+covenant that is also thereby made; and when the oath is sworn in secret
+to God, He alone is a party to the covenant into which the juror enters.
+In all the cases God is a party to a covenant to which he who swears is
+the other. Again, though Christ forbade unlawful swearing, yet when he
+says, "Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time,
+Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform _unto the Lord_ thine
+oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all,"[47] he does not teach that
+the oath, when properly sworn, is not to be performed to God, but rather
+intimates, that when He is properly appealed to in swearing, he is
+thereby contemplated as having addressed to him a solemn promise or vow,
+the fulfilment of which he will demand. A severe penalty followed the
+non-payment of the vow,[48] and the punishment due to the
+non-performance of an oath sworn, even to men, is represented as
+incurred by failing to fulfil a covenant obligation to God himself. The
+children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of
+Manasseh, sware thus to their brethren of the children of Israel, "The
+Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall
+know, if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord,
+(save us not this day,) that we have built us an altar to turn from
+following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt-offering, or
+meat-offering, or if to offer peace-offerings thereon." And testifying
+to their conviction that a failure in the fulfilment of their promise
+would be a breach of an engagement to God himself, they said, "Let the
+Lord himself require it."[49]
+
+Accordingly, the giving of the "oath for confirmation", whether of a
+statement of fact or of a promise to be fulfilled in the future, is in
+every case a taking hold on the covenant of God. There is every possible
+variety in the matter of the engagements made by oath, but not one of
+them is disconnected from a covenant with him. As the hand given among
+men was in every age a pledge of friendship--the maintenance of which is
+so palpably a design of a covenant, and betokened always an accession to
+conditions of peace; as when the hand was given on the occasion of
+swearing an oath, a covenant was wont to be made,[50] so when the hand,
+which, when lifted up in devotion, points out always reconciliation with
+God, in swearing is held up towards heaven, a sign that a covenant is
+being made with him is thereby given.
+
+Hence, when men, in making a league or covenant with one another,
+lawfully vow or swear to the Lord, they Covenant with him--and this is,
+moreover, corroborated by the Scripture account of some such covenants.
+The covenant between Jonathan and David, made by swearing unto God, is
+denominated a "covenant of the Lord."[51] The covenant of marriage, made
+by vowing or swearing to the Lord, is recognised as the covenant of
+God.[52] A covenant between God and each of these different parties must
+therefore have been made. One reason of these designations of such
+covenants is, that they were according to God's appointment; but it
+would be absolutely gratuitous to deny that there is this other
+reason--that those who sware in each case, by swearing came under an
+engagement to the glorious Object of all worship to fulfil the promises
+made by them to each other. Though marriage be not a sacrament, yet it
+is universally admitted to be solemnised either by the making of vows or
+by swearing to God; and if this covenant, and all others that are
+ratified by oath, afford not the matter of covenants with God entered
+into by the parties, there is not afforded by the scriptural forms of
+transactions with God concerning things essentially religious, that are
+ratified by oath, the least evidence of their being covenant engagements
+to him. A covenant transaction among men concerning lawful things civil,
+if ratified by oath, has the solemnity of an exercise that carries along
+with it an engagement, of its own nature, to God, not less than an
+exercise of Covenanting concerning things civil and religious, or
+concerning things exclusively religious. Nor is it any valid objection
+to the sentiment that every covenant--not excluding those that are
+civil--which is ratified by an oath, is to be fulfilled, in virtue of an
+engagement or vow to God made by the oath, that the designation of "a
+covenant of God" was applied to covenants confirmed by swearing, which
+were not kept, and probably had not been made in sincerity.[53] The
+transactions with God in such cases are designated by what they
+professed to be, and ought to have been: and with those who dishonoured
+God in conducting them it became Him to deal accordingly.
+
+From the foregoing statements regarding the oath, there may be deduced
+the two following conclusions:--
+
+First, That the civil or moral use of the oath, in the intercourse of
+society depends wholly upon its spiritual character. The oath of an
+atheist or unbeliever is not necessarily of any value. The individual
+who cherishes no sense of responsibility to God for his actions will not
+always, if at any time, scruple to swear falsely. When a witness is not
+impressed with the fear of God, his oath is of no more value than his
+simple affirmation: both may be true, but no security is afforded by his
+character that both are not wrong. In civil and moral life, the
+presumption that a witness is competent is based at least upon the
+profession which he makes of a regard to Divine truth: and though many,
+even while they tell the truth, swear without reverential feelings to
+Him whose dread name they use, their evidence or engagement of whatever
+kind is estimated as trust-worthy, only because it is supposed to be
+accompanied with the oath religiously employed.
+
+Second, That the oath is distinct from the vow. The vow is a solemn
+promise to God. He is properly a party to the covenant entered into in
+making it; and it may be made either on occasions of entering into
+engagements with men, or in other circumstances. The oath is an appeal
+to God; it may be made on occasions of covenanting, whether he be
+properly the party or not, and is an invocation of him, that he may
+witness and judge concerning a transaction entered into either with
+himself, or with himself and also with others. The vow is essentially a
+promise, but is made to God, who must be viewed necessarily as a witness
+to a transaction with himself; and, consequently, though the name of God
+may not be used in making it, as it is employed in the act of swearing
+an oath, yet, when it is made, the exercise of swearing is implied; or,
+every vow to God implies the giving of an oath, or the act of swearing
+by his name. The swearing of an oath always brings under obligation to
+God, and therefore always includes the making of a vow. When men
+covenant with one another, and appeal to God by oath, they come under an
+engagement to him, and also an engagement to one another; or, they vow
+and swear to God, and promise and swear to one another. When men in
+secret swear to God, what they swear to do, or the matter of their oath,
+is a vow; and their oath is sworn in formally calling on him to witness
+the making of their vow, and to judge them should they not fulfil it.
+When men covenant with one another and vow also to God, their vow
+carries along with it an oath, or the calling of God to act as witness
+and judge. The apprehension that God will punish for not making
+fulfilment to him accompanies equally the oath and the vow. In both is
+implied what may be denominated not properly an imprecation, but rather
+an acknowledgment of the justice of God's procedure in punishing should
+the engagement not be fulfilled. Both the vow and oath are made _to_
+God. The oath, besides, is made in the use of the name of God. When an
+oath is enjoined, so is a vow; for that which is promised to God in the
+oath is a vow. And as every vow is addressed to God--who is necessarily
+a witness and judge of the transaction and the offerer--every command
+enjoining it includes a mandate to use the oath.
+
+
+CONFESSION.
+
+The term CONFESS, and the corresponding word CONFESSION, are employed in
+reference to the subject of Covenanting. The former of these is
+sometimes used in regard to God as an object, and sometimes in reference
+to men. To confess to God, or to the name of God, means to perform
+services which include among them the exercise of Covenanting. In more
+than one passage of the prayer of Solomon, at the dedication of the
+temple, it denotes _to Covenant_. He said, "When thy people Israel be
+smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee,
+and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make
+supplication unto thee in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and
+forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land
+which thou gavest unto their fathers."[54] The sin to which the people
+of Israel were peculiarly exposed was that of idolatry. For that they
+were afterwards carried away from the land that had before been promised
+in covenant to their fathers. In practising that they transgressed the
+covenant.[55] When they should be restored they would take into their
+mouth, instead of the names of idols, the name of God, and that by
+taking hold upon his covenant.[56] Besides, the passage is parallel to
+the following:--"In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the
+children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together,
+going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They
+shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying, Come,
+and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall
+not be forgotten."[57] Both passages refer to the same event--the
+restoration of Israel. The exercise of confessing the name of God,
+corresponds to that of joining to him in a perpetual covenant. The verb
+(ידה--εξομολογεομαι) in the Hebrew, when connected
+with the name of God in different other passages, has the same import.
+An instance from the Psalms is found in these words:--"Save us, O Lord
+our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks (confess)
+unto thy holy name."[58] The ground of the Psalmist's encouragement to
+utter this prayer was, that the Lord remembered for his people his
+covenant; and it could not be for less than that they should, after
+their recal, take hold on that covenant, that he made supplication that
+they should be gathered from the heathen. The verb in the Greek by which
+the Seventy translate the Hebrew term, we should conclude, must
+therefore sometimes have the same force. But that it frequently has in
+the New Testament that signification, is manifest from the connections
+in which it stands in portions of it that shall now be considered. We
+read, "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision
+for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers; and
+that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For
+this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles;"[59] and conclude
+that the vow here quoted from the Psalms, which should be adopted by the
+people of God in the presence of the Gentiles, was, that they would
+Covenant with him. It was the promises of that covenant, of which
+circumcision was a sign, that Christ came to confirm. The Gentiles could
+not glorify God for his mercy without cleaving to it; and it was by
+believers making manifestations of attachment to that covenant, of which
+Covenanting was one, that the Gentiles should be brought, in a manner
+more or less explicit, to adhere unto it. Before proceeding farther, we
+take the record of the infamous transaction between the chief priests
+and captains, and Judas,--"And they were glad, and covenanted to give
+him money. And he promised (εξωμολογησε)."[60] And we
+consequently infer that the word which designates Judas' conduct in
+completing his treacherous bargain, when used in a good sense, bears the
+construction _to Covenant_. Again, we read, "God also hath highly
+exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the
+name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
+earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess
+that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."[61] And we
+remark, that to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, from this appears to
+be tantamount to an oath, and accordingly includes in it, _to Covenant_.
+The passage is a manifest application to the Redeemer of the prophetic
+words, "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."[62] The
+last words that remain to be considered are another quotation of the
+same Scripture:--"For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every
+knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."[63] They
+follow the statement, "For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat
+of Christ;" but they do not refer exclusively to the final judgment. As
+the expression, "every knee shall bow to me," cannot be confined to that
+alone, so neither can that which immediately follows. They appear to be
+used to show that he to whom such homage by men shall be paid, will
+preside at the future judgment; and accordingly intimate, that
+throughout all time that homage shall be given. There is no reason
+afforded in the whole passage to conclude, that the homage will include
+in it less than all the services connected with the use of the oath.
+
+Another verb (ομολογεω) in the Greek of the New Testament is
+also rendered _to confess_. It is that from which the former, by the
+addition of a prefix, which gives emphasis to the meaning, is derived.
+It is used in the passage which describes the wicked promise of Herod to
+Herodias--"Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she
+would ask."[64] It therefore designates the act by which one enters into
+an agreement or a covenant with another. It has that import in classic
+writers among the Greeks. It is used by the Apostle in writing to the
+Hebrews and to others, in such circumstances as to preclude the idea
+that that meaning he did not attach to it. One case may be selected. "By
+him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
+that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks (confessing) to his
+name."[65] Confessing here is manifestly parallel to the offering of the
+sacrifice of praise. The vow was frequently a sacrifice; and is the
+making of the vow not included in confessing to his name?
+
+When either of these terms in the Greek, without limitation, is
+employed, and God is the object, it bears the meaning _to Covenant_. In
+the cases supposed, each must be viewed as capable, severally, of every
+interpretation that it bears in specific connections, and, consequently,
+of the import that is contended for. The former, in these cases,
+sometimes means to confess sins--at others, to confess gratitude, or to
+give thanks--at others, to covenant; and at others, considered apart
+from its connection, it may not appear to intimate specifically any one
+of these in preference to the others. When thus indefinitely used, it
+must be understood as designed to bear individually each signification.
+Thus, the passages, "I will confess to thee among the Gentiles," "Every
+tongue shall confess unto God," each intimate the acknowledgment of sin,
+the giving of God thanks, and the exercise of Covenanting with him. The
+latter of the terms is used indefinitely only when God is the object: it
+is in the passage, "giving thanks (or confessing) to his name," the
+signification of which from the context, has been considered.
+
+When the object of confession in any passages is not adverted to, and
+the subject of confession is not stated, _to confess_ there means, to
+Covenant. That object must be either God, or men, or both. In those
+passages it must be severally both; and, consequently, such bring before
+us, not only the making of acknowledgments to men, but the making of
+confession, according to its most diversified character, to God. This is
+the case in the passage, "With the mouth confession is made to
+salvation."
+
+To _confess_ Christ signifies to Covenant. Its import is, to confess him
+to men, and also to confess him to God. And the passage last quoted,
+according to the interpretation given of it, proves that the latter is
+to Covenant. When confession with the mouth is made to salvation, it is
+Christ that is confessed. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
+Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
+the dead, thou shalt be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto
+righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation."[66]
+
+_To make confession_ is to confess. The form of expression occurs twice
+in the English version of the Old Testament, and the passages, according
+to what has been shown, describe at once the exercises of confessing
+sin, and of Covenanting. And that the former of the passages records the
+latter of these exercises, moreover, is manifest; from the expressed
+resolution of king Hezekiah, of which that passage recounts the
+fulfilment. He said, "Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with
+the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from
+us."[67] And the accomplishment was, "And the children of Israel that
+were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days
+with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praising the Lord
+day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord. And Hezekiah
+spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of
+the Lord: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering
+peace-offerings, and making _confession_ to the Lord God of their
+fathers."[68] The other passage states the character of an exercise in
+which Daniel as an individual engaged, and from its very structure,
+independently of the conclusion to which we have otherwise come,
+manifests him as taking hold on God's covenant, as well as acknowledging
+sin. "I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my _confession_, and said,
+O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to
+them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments."[69]
+
+The phrase TO PROFESS, is, when used in connection with godliness or
+true religion, in the New Testament, equivalent to that _to Confess_. It
+is a translation of one of the verbs (ομολογεω), which is
+rendered also by the latter. To profess either the knowledge of God, or
+godliness, or a good profession, or faith, or subjection to the gospel,
+corresponds to the act of professing Christ. If performed to God, it is,
+according to the import of the expression _confessing to him_, to
+Covenant. If performed to men, it is to bear testimony to the truth. If
+not represented as performed either to him or to them, it is to be
+understood as being, according to their respective characters, performed
+to both; and, accordingly, to be interpreted as not merely to testify to
+the truth of God before the world, but also to engage in the solemn
+exercise of Covenanting. The exercise of Covenanting is accordingly to
+be understood as referred to in these scripture declarations:--"Whiles
+by the experiment of this ministration, they glorify God for your
+_professed_ subjection unto the gospel of Christ."[70] "They _profess_
+that they know God; but in works they deny him."[71] "Women _professing_
+godliness."[72] "And hast _professed_ a good _profession_ before many
+witnesses."[73] "Let us hold fast the _profession_ of our faith without
+wavering; for he is faithful that promised."[74]
+
+The term PROFESSION, when used in the same connection, is equivalent to
+the term _confession_; and hence includes in its import the exercise of
+Covenanting. The proof of this which is obviously deducible from the
+meaning of the word _confession_ is corroborated by the representation
+which is given in the epistle to the Hebrews, of Christ as the high
+priest of our profession. In this aspect of his character, the Redeemer
+was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
+promises made unto the fathers; and under this, taught the people to
+manifest in every possible manner their attachment to God's
+Covenant--duties which they would not have performed, if in making
+confession to God they had not confessed their acquiescence in that
+Covenant.
+
+
+PERSONAL COVENANTING
+
+Is an ACT OF ADHERENCE to God's Covenant. It is the definite exercise of
+giving acquiescence to that Covenant in its whole character. It is not
+simply acquiescing in that Covenant in the heart, but signifying that
+acquiescence in a positive service. The Covenanting believer, like the
+people of Israel with Josiah their king, in this exercise, stands to the
+Covenant.[75] That party in this exercise takes hold upon the Covenant,
+and cleaves to it; that is, not merely performs other services required
+in the Covenant, but absolutely engages to it. And here, uses such
+language as the words of Jacob, "The Lord shall be my God." But
+particularly,
+
+First, This is a solemn act approving of the way of salvation through
+Jesus Christ. In every religious exercise an approval of this method of
+restoration to the favour of God is implied; in this it is specially
+intimated. To make that approval in this act there is afforded
+encouragement. It was to Israel represented as about to engage in
+Covenanting individually, that He who described himself, "The Lord, the
+King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of Hosts," made the appeal,
+"Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no
+God, (literally, rock.) I know not any."[76] This approval has been
+explicitly declared in this exercise. To invite to the performance of
+this act, there were used the words, "Return, ye backsliding children,
+and I will heal your backslidings." And in Covenanting individually, not
+less than socially, accepting the invitation, these said, "Behold, we
+come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is
+salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains;
+truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel."[77] The making of
+this approval has been commemorated. Certainly not less in taking hold
+on God's Covenant did David express his satisfaction in it, than in the
+pleasing record given by him in these words, "He hath made with me an
+everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my
+salvation, and all my desire."[78] And in all those circumstances in
+which, by performing this act, the believer will declare himself to be
+on the Lord's side, this approval will be made. "Then said Jesus unto
+the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord,
+to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."[79]
+
+Secondly. This is a solemn act of accepting Christ and all his benefits.
+It has been performed by many who had previously known the grace of
+God. The nation of Israel, when about to enter the promised land, were
+generally a people who feared God.[80] They had heard of the promise
+made to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
+blessed," and by faith must have been looking forward to the Messiah
+thus foretold. But on the occasion of their renovation of God's Covenant
+in the land of Moab, they were exhorted through Moses to make a _choice_
+of Him as their life, and of that life which comes by Him alone.
+"Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou
+mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and
+that thou mayest cleave unto him; (for he is thy life, and the length of
+thy days;) that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto
+thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."[81]
+David illustrating the practice of many, in special exercises performed
+this. Take his record of one of these. "O my soul, thou hast said unto
+the Lord, Thou art my Lord."--"Their sorrows shall be multiplied that
+hasten after another god: their drink-offerings of blood will I not
+offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of
+mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot."[82] The vow
+here is emphatic, being made against swearing to another god, and
+intimating that the Lord, being his Lord, and the portion of his
+inheritance and of his cup, had been received by him according to a
+choice to which he still adhered. When Jesus appeared in the flesh, some
+who had believed in a Messiah to come, and who were accordingly true
+believers, in acts of Covenanting received Jesus as a Saviour that was
+come. John, the forerunner, was sanctified from the womb; but after
+Jesus had commenced his public ministry, that distinguished individual
+on one occasion, seeing Him coming unto him, said, "Behold the Lamb of
+God, which taketh away the sin of the world."[83] And this act of
+appropriation, as well as of bearing testimony, he afterwards repeated.
+Nathaniel was a believing expectant of the Messiah. Of him Jesus made
+honourable mention when he said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is
+no guile;" and he, immediately on perceiving proofs of his Divine
+character, professed his acceptance of him. "Nathaniel answered and
+saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of
+Israel."[84] And Thomas and Peter, as instances of those who have
+received him, testifying in the exercise of Covenanting to their cordial
+acceptance of him, said in the solemn act of confessing his name, the
+one, "My Lord and my God;"[85] and the other, in language implying the
+same avouchment, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I
+love thee."[86]
+
+They receive the Father as a God in Covenant, who receive the Son; and
+they receiving the Son receive the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of promise.
+The acceptance of the Redeemer therefore is the acceptance of a
+Three-one-God, as a Covenant God. In Covenanting, that acceptance is
+made by the saints. And all things are theirs, and they are Christ's,
+and Christ is God's. Of the Father as reconciled unto them, as having
+drawn them to himself, and justified them, and adopted them into his
+family, they accept in that exercise. In that, too, they accept of the
+Redeemer as their prophet and king, and acquiesce in his priesthood held
+on their behalf. And in that, the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Christ,
+the Remembrancer, the glorious Agent who brings from death to life, who
+illuminates the understanding, who gives comfort and consolation, and
+who sanctifies, and proves the earnest of the purchased possession, they
+solemnly accept. And, accordingly, all that sovereign mercy has done for
+them, or wrought in them, or will accomplish on their behalf, in that
+they solemnly receive.
+
+Thirdly. This is a solemn act of renouncing the claims of the devil, the
+world, and the flesh, upon the heart and life. When Christ is received,
+Satan is cast out; actually by Divine power, and resolutely by the
+subjects of Divine grace. And the resolution to abandon Satan and his
+cause enters into the covenant engagement. "O Lord our God, other lords
+beside thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make
+mention of thy name."[87] "Take away all iniquity, and receive us
+graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not
+save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to
+the work of our hands, Ye are our gods." "Ephraim shall say, What have I
+to do any more with idols?"[88] "What agreement hath the temple of God
+with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
+will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
+shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye
+separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
+receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
+daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."[89] The injunction, "Be ye
+separate," inculcates not merely the performance of the act of
+separating from what is evil, but the exercise of Covenanting to
+accomplish it. The corresponding command in prophecy is, "Be ye clean."
+And the verb in the Hebrew is that rendered by the term _purge_ in the
+passage, "I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you
+into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge out from among you the
+rebels, and them that transgress against me."[90] The Lord purged out
+the heathen from among the Jews who returned to Jerusalem, and who,
+under Nehemiah, entered into a covenant with God. These Jews themselves,
+at God's command, and to the accomplishment of his purpose, separated
+themselves from those heathens, not merely actually, but also by solemn
+covenant. In like manner, the Nazarite separated himself from certain
+things, not merely in reality, but likewise by vow. And since the
+separation was one, though the terms in the sacred original denoting
+that of the Nazarite and of the returned Jews were each different from
+that used in the prophets, we are warranted to conclude that the
+injunction of the Apostle, "Be ye separate," implies not less than the
+covenant engagement to separate, which those other cases of separation
+include.
+
+Fourthly. This solemn act includes voluntary self-dedication to God. It
+is a willing acknowledgment of the right which God, by creation and
+redemption, has in the whole man; it harmonizes with the claim, "Thus
+saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O
+Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by my
+name; thou art mine;"[91] and is expressed in the language, "Lord, I am
+thine, save me."[92] It is the cheerful offer of perpetual obedience to
+his law. It is thus required, "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve
+him in sincerity and in truth,"[93] and is thus tendered, "O Lord, truly
+I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid."[94]
+"Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in
+thy judgments. So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and
+ever."[95] "I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever; I will trust in
+the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows:
+thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name."[96] Both
+to the world and to God himself, in vowing to him, "One shall say, I am
+the Lord's;" and of many, individually as well as collectively, it might
+be declared, as of those of Macedonia, that they "gave their ownselves
+to the Lord."[97] These were saints; and, accordingly, this testimony
+was not borne to their first subjection to the gospel, but to an act of
+self-surrender to God, on the occasion of their making, in the spirit of
+true benevolence, provision for his poor.
+
+Finally. This is a solemn act in which is made to God a promise to
+perform certain specific duties. There is no exercise that would be
+acceptable to God, that should not come within the range of a promise
+made in such a service. Abstinence from besetting sins, increased
+diligence in the use of the means of grace, positive benevolent or
+religious services, the exercise of all the christian graces, and
+whatever observance the enlightened mind may apprehend as peculiarly
+incumbent, in this act may be engaged to. Illustrations of this are
+afforded by the vow of Jacob at Bethel, the vow of Hannah, the vow and
+oath of David to provide a place for the ark of the Lord, the vow of the
+Nazarite, the vows paid by offerings laid on the altar of God, and all
+offerings of obedience acceptable through Jesus Christ.
+
+
+SOCIAL COVENANTING,
+
+Like that which is Personal, is an act of acquiesence in God's Covenant.
+They who are accepted in it are the saints. All invited to join in it
+are required to have regard to all the institutions of religion. When
+an injunction to engage in the service is delivered, the Covenant of God
+is exhibited; and the blessings of that Covenant are promised to those
+who will properly perform the exercise, and fulfil their obligations.
+
+First. This act is performed by the Christian church in a collective
+ecclesiastical capacity. One in opinion regarding her doctrine, worship,
+discipline, and government, her members, having one origin, upheld by
+the same grace, designed for one end, called to the same privileges,
+enjoined to perform the same duties, expectants of the same glorious
+consummation, and harmonious in their sentiments regarding special
+incumbent duties, and concerning the manner of performing them, come
+forward, and as one body in this unite. Unity of existence is necessary
+to the body confederated in the social covenant. Those who hold the
+truth cannot enter into it with the infidel, the unbeliever, the
+erroneous or profane. All who unite in it must have the same motives,
+and contemplate the same ultimate end. All must have the same sentiments
+of a Covenant God, and harmonize in their views of the means to be
+employed in order to the attainment of that end. There is no church so
+free from imperfection as not to need an enlargement or correction of
+its views. Yet no body of professing Christians are warranted in uniting
+in covenant with those who hold not the truth. The unity of the Spirit
+is necessary in the bond of peace. No church, in entering into Covenant,
+includes so much in her engagements as the word of God requires. And,
+hence, a standing of Christian profession higher than has yet been
+attained to by any, has to be aspired at. To secure that, a closer
+regard to what should be the character of the true church than has been
+paid, is requisite. To unite with the people of God is good; but to
+unite with any elsewhere than on the basis of truth, is not to be
+desired. Unions among Sections of the visible church may possibly be
+effected at the expense of deviations on either hand from the direct
+line from each to the perfection of the church's character on earth. And
+though, after confederation is effected, tolerable approximation to it
+may be made, the sacrifice required may often not be excused. But when
+each party aims at the truth, the more they advance, the more they will
+approach each other; and happy will they be and honoured who will arrive
+there. Deviations from the path of rectitude made by any Section of the
+church are not reckoned as trivial by Him who witnesses the conduct of
+all; and it is, notwithstanding these, (but not as if he disregarded
+them) that he continues to make, to those chargeable with them,
+manifestations of his favour. If some are nearer the consummation of
+Christian character and profession than many around them, let them not
+go back or wait on the others, but invite these to follow and unite,
+that all in due time may together go on to perfection.
+
+Secondly. This act is performed by Christians in a national capacity.
+Acknowledging the law of God as the basis of legislation--ecclesiastical
+and civil; recognising themselves as individually and jointly called to
+obey it; as put in possession of common benefits arising from the
+dispensation of the law of Christ, in things civil as well as religious;
+and as called to promote the interests of the kingdom of Him who is king
+in Zion, the Governor among the nations, and Lord of all--as one body
+they engage in this. The members of Christ's church are members of civil
+society, of which, too, he is the Head; and a reason not less
+substantial than that for vowing in an ecclesiastical capacity, they
+therefore have for engaging as members of a civil community in the
+exercise of Covenanting with God. Only such a covenant as corresponds
+with his will is acceptable to Him. But there are reasons why all in a
+Christian nation should collectively enter into such. Were some whose
+sentiments or practice might not correspond with the Covenant, to seek
+to enter it, there would be every reason why the federal union with
+these should not be completed. Such individuals are not fitted to have a
+charge or trust in the State committed to them. Till they would exhibit
+signs of repentance and reformation, they should not be received. Were a
+party in power, or desiring it, possessed of such a character, even
+apparently disposed to enter into such covenants, wisdom would say,
+Enter not into confederacy with them.
+
+Thirdly. Various communities may be confederated together in one solemn
+Covenant with God. By this it is not intended that different churches
+holding many conflicting sentiments, and entertaining different plans of
+attaining even to a good end, may warrantably so unite in an
+ecclesiastical capacity. What prevents different churches from adopting
+the same standards, and holding communion with one another in waiting on
+all the ordinances of divine grace, is sufficient to prevent them from
+associating in league in this manner. Nor is it intended that by such a
+federal union merely a testimony against error should be given, without
+a solemn declaration of adherence to specified truths. It is not the
+fact of a given Section of the visible church adhering to a definite
+system that invests it with a right to Covenant by itself, exclusively
+of every other--for that system might be very imperfect--but because
+that it holds the truth, and is bound to go on to perfection. Its own
+imperfections are drawbacks upon its avowal of the truth; by uniting
+with others, who would refuse to give the truth which it might hold the
+desired prominence, it should not suffer that truth to be inadequately
+exhibited, or concealed. But the people of God in different states or
+kingdoms, or in different communities or churches in the same kingdom,
+may enter into various species of solemn covenants with one another, to
+carry into effect the design of the exhibition of the truth. It is the
+variety of opinion that exists among organised churches that prevents
+these from co-operating together in various benevolent or religious
+schemes, and that is sufficient to prevent some who maintain the duty of
+Covenanting, from associating with others in discharging it. Because of
+the church's imperfection, none of her procedures harmonize completely,
+either with one another, or with the truth. But individual communities
+are not therefore warranted in being content with proceeding to bear a
+testimony for it on a principle of approximative expediency. What
+different bodies could do together better than singly without
+sacrificing the cause of the truth on either hand, they are warranted to
+unite in solemn Covenant to effect. What each body could do for the
+interests of Christ's kingdom with more effect alone, let its members
+among themselves strengthen their obligations to perform. Were there to
+be formed federal unions that would lead to the investigation and
+discovery of the mind of God contained in his word, and to the diffusion
+of truth agreed upon, as well as to the reprobation of acknowledged
+evils, those who form them might by degrees be drawn so closely
+together, not merely in love and zeal, but also in sentiment, that,
+instead of being distinguished by so many differences as they now
+exhibit, they would appear as but one church united in a single
+consentaneous doctrinal and practical profession of the truth as it is
+in Jesus.
+
+Fourthly. This act implies all that is included in personal Covenanting.
+The community as a body engage in it. But without the concurrence of
+each individual the transaction cannot be the deed of the whole. The
+whole accept of the promise by each receiving it. The whole engage to
+duty by each entering into an engagement. Between God and each
+individual a covenant is made when the whole Covenant. The work of
+acceding to the covenant conditions on the part of each is personal. The
+provision on which all as a body lay hold is accepted by each in
+particular. The promise may be one which is not suited to each
+individually, but adapted to a whole, made up of individuals, each of
+whom is interested in it. The services promised, one might not of
+himself have been able to perform; but, in order to the performance of
+them, each, with the others, might be called to unite. What is not
+required of all individually, may not be conjoined to form one demand on
+all. And what is not promised to men personally, cannot be offered to a
+community in general. The act of the Covenanting Society is complex, and
+is the aggregate of the actings of all who compose it. And the
+responsibility of the whole is a responsibility which each bears. Each,
+as a Christian, as interested in the prosperity of Christ's kingdom, as
+a voluntary agent engaged in promoting the truth, as called to endeavour
+to seek the welfare of men, and as seeking the advancement of the glory
+of God,--each associates with the others in the transaction, and gives
+it its Covenant character.
+
+Fifthly. This act is, on the part of the Covenanting community as a
+body, the acceptance of the benefits of God's Covenant in general, and
+of special benefits of it, in particular. It is a reception of the
+benefits, the attainment of which the Covenant as a mean contemplates.
+These benefits are offered in exhibitions of Divine grace. In the
+Covenant they are laid hold on by acquiescence and acceptance. The
+enjoyment of them may belong to a period near, or even long posterior,
+and may be attained to through the use of other means besides; but in
+Covenanting they are solemnly apprehended and appropriated. In reference
+to his repeated acceptance of the promises of God in this act,[98] there
+is borne to the father of the faithful, the testimony, "By faith
+Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that received the
+promises offered up his only begotten son."[99] And as a people, the
+Israelites in this act received the promises. "Who are Israelites; to
+whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the
+giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises."[100] The
+Covenants must have been the different dispensations of the same
+Covenant--the former dispensations, or the Old Covenant, and the last,
+or the New Covenant. It was at a renovation of the Covenant under the
+former dispensation, that the people of Israel received the law; and
+certainly not less the promises. Are the benefits contemplated in the
+exercise of Covenanting, individual or general reformation in religion
+or in practice, or the preservation of peace and truth, or any other
+blessings spiritual or temporal? These are included in God's Covenant
+promise, and in this act they are consequently accepted as thus
+embodied.
+
+Sixthly. In this act the Covenanting community vow to God to render
+general and specified obedience. In that is expressed or implied the
+offer of obedience to the whole law of God, and to particular obvious
+requirements included in it. When the Covenant was made at Sinai, the
+people said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be
+obedient."[101] And at Shechem, before Joshua, this was their language,
+"The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey."[102] At
+the return from the captivity, the oath taken included the promise to
+discharge specific demands of God's law; and every vow should be made,
+and every oath sworn, in order to perform some service required.
+
+Seventhly. This act is a solemn federal transaction among the members of
+the Covenanting community. The fact of the public social character of
+the act shows that the engagements of a Covenant with God, have a
+reference to the relations to one another of those who Covenant. The
+reception of good from the hand of God, through the means of
+Covenanting, necessarily supposes that that good, at least in part, will
+come to each in some manner by those associated in the exercise. The
+promise of obedience to God by vow or oath, includes a promise of
+certain services to each member of the confederation. When a vow or an
+oath to God, to accept of good from one another, or to perform mutual
+services among themselves is made, a corresponding engagement to each
+other is thereby made among them. The two engagements are distinct in
+themselves; but the latter flows from, or is constituted by, the former;
+nay, in so far as the former has a regard to mutual relations among the
+parties themselves, it was made that the latter might obtain. The vow or
+oath to God is not an engagement to men; but what is by vow or oath
+promised to God to be performed to men, constitutes the reality or
+substance of an engagement thereby made to them. Covenanting with God is
+the laudable means employed to bring parties together, to promise in the
+most solemn manner to accept of specified good from each other, and to
+render certain services in correspondence therewith to each.
+
+It is by engaging to God, that they engage to one another. And therefore
+conversely, it may be added, that their own engagement to one another,
+as well as their engagement to God, by which that engagement was made,
+is, according to the general definition of Covenanting that has been
+given, a taking hold upon the Covenant of Grace.
+
+The engagement to God is always substantial, whether by vow or oath, or
+by both; as is the engagement among the Covenanting parties. But one or
+other of the engagements may be either expressed or understood. The
+recognition of their engagement to one another may be implied, but not
+expressed, whilst the Covenant of the Lord to whom they vow or swear to
+give obedience, is explicitly adhered to. This was the case with the
+people of Israel when they engaged in the act, along with Josiah their
+king. "And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the
+Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his
+testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his
+soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this
+book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to
+stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the
+covenant of God, the God of their fathers."[103] Again, these mutual
+engagements, in some cases, may be expressed, while the Covenant of God
+is implicitly renewed. Zedekiah, and the people of Israel, at once, in
+express terms, entered into an engagement to set free their servants who
+were of their brethren, and before the Lord thus in covenant with him
+implicitly engaged to a duty which, on the occasion of the Covenanting
+at Sinai had been enjoined.[104] In other cases, both the engagement to
+God, and the engagement of those who Covenant to one another, may be
+explicit. "Jehoiada made a Covenant between the Lord and the king and
+the people, that they should be the Lord's people; between the king also
+and the people."[105]
+
+Eighthly. This act is a public acceptance of the truth of God, and a
+renunciation of error. It is a public confession to God of a heartfelt
+approbation of his holy oracles, and of the doctrines and precepts
+revealed in them--a testimony to the perfection of his word and
+ordinances, and an abandonment of all that is inconsistent with them. It
+is the act of a witnessing body, appointed to bear testimony in that
+exercise for him. In reference to their Covenant engagements, the Lord
+says to his people, "Ye are even my witnesses."[106] In this act, they
+confess him before men. In vowing, or swearing to give obedience to his
+law, is implied an approbation of his holy oracles; and that approval in
+the act is also declared. They who keep his Covenant, keep his
+testimonies; and they who cleave to the one, adhere to the other. "I
+have chosen the way of truth; thy judgments have I laid before me."[107]
+"Thy testimonies have I taken for an heritage for ever: for they are the
+rejoicing of my heart."[108] They who take the Covenant of God into
+their mouth, declare his statutes;[109] and if worthy, their resolution
+in sincerity is thus expressed, "I will meditate in thy precepts, and
+have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I
+will not forget thy word."[110]
+
+Lastly. This act is performed in the name of those who engage in it, and
+in the name of posterity. The Lord made a Covenant at once with Noah,
+and with his descendants. The Lord made a Covenant with Abraham as the
+father of many nations. In the land of Moab, the Israelites and their
+seed after them, at once entered into such a relation. "Neither with you
+only do I make this Covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth
+here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is
+not here with us this day."[111] And when the former did so, they were
+encouraged to choose life, that they and their seed might live.[112] The
+Covenant of the priesthood made with Phinehas, was not entered into
+merely with himself, but also with his posterity who should exist to far
+distant times; and at Sinai, when Israel engaged to be for the Lord, in
+the second commandment they had addressed to them a reason of obedience,
+implying that their engagement was not merely on their own, but also on
+their children's behalf. "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
+the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
+generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of
+them that love me, and keep my commandments."[113]
+
+
+PERMANENT MEANS OF COVENANT RATIFICATION.
+
+It has been shown that whenever a vow is made, or an oath is sworn, a
+covenant with God is made. It now remains to be proved that every
+covenant with God is ratified by oath.
+
+Though the oath is frequently exhibited without explicit reference to
+the Covenant, and the Covenant in like manner is spoken of without
+mention being made of the oath, yet since in no passage either
+explicitly or implicitly is evidence afforded that the one is ever
+dissociated from the other, and, since the two occur so frequently
+together, it may be warrantably concluded, that when the one alone is
+adverted to, the other is implied.
+
+In many passages are the ideas of oath and covenant so associated
+together, that the strongest presumption is afforded that the one is
+essential to the other; and, accordingly, that when a covenant with God
+is made, it is in the use of the oath. What on this point could be more
+conclusive than the language,--"Thus saith the Lord God, I will even
+deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in
+breaking the covenant?"[114]
+
+A verb (שבע), signifying _to swear_, and two corresponding
+nouns are derived from a word for the number _seven_. That was a sacred
+number, or a number of perfection, not merely among the Israelites, but
+among other nations, and was used for the purpose of signifying an oath.
+A present of seven vouchers sometimes accompanied the act of swearing.
+"Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech: and both of
+them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by
+themselves.--And he said, For these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take of
+my hand, that they may be a witness unto me that I have digged this
+well. Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they
+sware both of them."[115] The design of thus using the number being to
+give confirmation, such also must have been the end of using the oath.
+It is not improbable that the number _seven_ may have been employed
+because that in seven days, according to the pattern set in the period
+of creation, and consequent sabbath, there are included the six days
+appointed for labour and the sabbath of rest. But, however that may be,
+we have the testimony of an inspired writer, that what was suggested in
+symbol by the number is the design of the oath. "An oath for
+confirmation is--an end of all strife."
+
+Finally, a covenant with God, whether made in secret or in public, from
+its very nature cannot be entered into without an oath. Sometimes the
+vow and oath were used together. David "sware unto the Lord, and vowed
+unto the mighty God of Jacob." Mutual promises among men, though they
+confer obligation, do not always stand connected with a covenant with
+God, for they are made sometimes without a vow or an oath. But a
+promise made to God must be made either by vow or oath, or by both; and
+since no covenant with Him can be made without a promise, it follows
+that every covenant with Him is ratified by oath in its most explicit
+form, or by the oath implied in the vow.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] Hosea vi. 7.
+
+[3] Jer. xxxiii. 20-25.
+
+[4] Gen. viii. 22. See also Hosea ii. 18.
+
+[5] Gen. xvii. 7.
+
+[6] Zech. xiii. 9.
+
+[7] Isa. lv. 3.
+
+[8] Isa. xlv. 24.
+
+[9] Ps. l. 16.
+
+[10] Confession of Faith, chap. xxii. 5, 6.
+
+[11] Ps. cxxxii. 2.
+
+[12] Num. xxi. 2.
+
+[13] Gen. xxviii. 20-22.
+
+[14] 1 Sam. i. 11.
+
+[15] Jer. xliv. 25, 26
+
+[16] Jonah i. 16.
+
+[17] Deut. xxiii. 23.
+
+[18] Num. xxx. 2.
+
+[19] Nahum i. 15.
+
+[20] Ps. lxi. 8.
+
+[21] Compare Ps. cxxxii. 2, 3, and 2 Sam. vii. 1-3.
+
+[22] Ps. lxvi. 13, 14.
+
+[23] Mal. i. 14.
+
+[24] Num. xxi. 2.
+
+[25] Exod. xxxiv. 11.
+
+[26] Num. xxx. 9.
+
+[27] Ezek. xx. 37.
+
+[28] Confession of Faith, xxii. 1, 2.
+
+[29] Joshua ii. 17.
+
+[30] Gen. xxvi. 3.
+
+[31] Gesen. Lex. Heb. et Chald.
+
+[32] 1 Kings viii. 31.
+
+[33] Gen. xxiv. 3.
+
+[34] Lev. xix. 12.
+
+[35] Deut. vi. 13.
+
+[36] Mat. v. 34-36.
+
+[37] Jer. v. 2.
+
+[38] Jer. iv. 2.
+
+[39] Dan. xii. 7.
+
+[40] Rev. x. 5, 6.
+
+[41] Is. lxii. 8.
+
+[42] Exod. xxxiii. 1; Ezek. xx. 28.
+
+[43] Jer. iv. 1, 2.
+
+[44] 2 Chron. vi. 22, 23.
+
+[45] Deut. xxiii. 21, 22.
+
+[46] Num. xxx. 2.
+
+[47] Mat. v. 33, 34.
+
+[48] Eccl. v. 4-6.
+
+[49] Josh. xxii. 21-23.
+
+[50] Ezek. xvii. 18.
+
+[51] 1 Sam. xx. 8.
+
+[52] Prov. ii. 17.
+
+[53] Ezek. xvii. 16-19.
+
+[54] 1 Kings viii. 33, 34--See also ver. 35, 36.
+
+[55] Josh. xxiii. 16.
+
+[56] Zech. xiii. 9--See ver. 2.
+
+[57] Jer. i. 4, 5.
+
+[58] Ps. cvi. 47, 45--See also Ps. xviii. 49.
+
+[59] Rom. xv. 8, 9.
+
+[60] Luke xxii. 5, 6.
+
+[61] Phil. ii. 9-11.
+
+[62] Is. xlv. 23.
+
+[63] Rom. xiv. 11.
+
+[64] Matt. xiv. 7.
+
+[65] Heb. xiii. 15.
+
+[66] Rom. x. 9, 10.
+
+[67] 2 Chron. xxix. 10.
+
+[68] 2 Chron. xxx. 21, 22.
+
+[69] Dan. ix. 4.
+
+[70] 2 Cor. ix. 13.
+
+[71] Titus i. 16.
+
+[72] 1 Tim. ii. 10.
+
+[73] 1 Tim. vi. 12.
+
+[74] Heb. x. 23.
+
+[75] 2 Kings xxiii. 3.
+
+[76] Is. xliv. 8; see v. 6.
+
+[77] Jer. iii. 22, 23.
+
+[78] 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.
+
+[79] John vi. 67, 68.
+
+[80] Jer. ii. 2, 3.
+
+[81] Deut. xxx. 19, 20.
+
+[82] Ps. xvi. 2-4, 5.
+
+[83] John i. 29.
+
+[84] John i. 49.
+
+[85] John xx. 28.
+
+[86] John xxi. 17; see also Deut. vi. 5.
+
+[87] Is. xxvi. 13.
+
+[88] Hosea xiv. 2, 3, 8.
+
+[89] 2 Cor. vi. 16-18.
+
+[90] Ezek. xx. 37, 38.
+
+[91] Is. xliii. 1.
+
+[92] Ps. cxix. 94.
+
+[93] Josh. xxiv. 14.
+
+[94] Ps. cxvi. 16.
+
+[95] Ps. cxix. 43, 44.
+
+[96] Ps. lxi. 4, 5.
+
+[97] 2 Cor. viii. 5.
+
+[98] Rom. iv. 20-22.
+
+[99] Heb. xi. 17.
+
+[100] Rom. ix. 4.
+
+[101] Exod. xxiv. 7.
+
+[102] Josh. xxiv. 24. See also, v. 25.
+
+[103] 2 Chron. xxxiv. 31, 32.
+
+[104] Jer. xxxiv. 8-18; see also Exod. xxi. 2.
+
+[105] 2 Kings xi. 17.
+
+[106] Isa. xliv. 8.
+
+[107] Ps. cxix. 30.
+
+[108] Ps. cxix. 111.
+
+[109] Ps. l. 16.
+
+[110] Ps. cxix. 15, 16.
+
+[111] Deut. xxix. 14, 15.
+
+[112] Deut. xxx. 19.
+
+[113] Exod. xx. 5, 6.
+
+[114] Ezek. xvi. 59.
+
+[115] Gen. xxi. 27, 28, 30, 31. See Gesen. Lex.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+MANNER OF COVENANTING.
+
+
+Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of
+Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people
+while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in
+which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our
+knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His
+doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He
+has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has
+given us to see that He does act in wondrous condescension to his
+saints. Being an infinite, glorious Spirit, He does not perform the
+deeds of men clothed with flesh and blood, but being the upholder of all
+things, and the glorious fountain of all the means of operation which
+men employ, with them He can and does hold communication. In the
+ordinances of His grace He has made his chosen ones to know him. Proofs
+of His gracious regard to them He has in all ages given. In the earlier
+part of the history of time, their bodily senses he addressed: in all
+time their souls, by the inhabitation of his Holy Spirit, experienced
+the goodness of His grace. What He records of His transactions with His
+people is after the manner of beings possessed of material qualities, as
+well as gifted with undying spirits. Though not possessed of bodily
+organs, He spake to men; though not material, He hears and sees them;
+and He testifies to their deeds and thoughts. Unchanging, He acts not
+nor thinks as men do. But through the illimitable resources of His
+perfect character He has dealt with them as if He were possessed of the
+faculties not merely of an infinite, but of a perfect material, being.
+And what in the language of metaphor He has taught, or what He has
+presented before the bodily organs and minds of all, they are called to
+receive as bearing the character of truth. When His people, in vowing or
+swearing to Him, take hold on Him, He covenants with them. Receiving
+their various services offered to Him, He acknowledges them as covenant
+children. They vow unto Him; He made promises to them. They swear unto
+Him; He has sworn unto them. They avouch Him to be their God; He
+avouches them to be His people.
+
+On occasions of Covenanting, God has actually made promises, and sworn
+to men. To Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob; to the whole people of
+Israel at Sinai; to David and others in these circumstances He spake. To
+Noah once and again with enlargement the promise of His covenant He
+uttered. Abraham had addressed to Him the promise on various occasions
+of this nature, by the Lord holding converse with him as a friend. With
+the people of Israel the Lord talked face to face in the Mount, out of
+the midst of the fire. To Jacob he spake in a vision of the night at
+Bethel. And a covenant of royalty with David he made in like manner. And
+the oath of God at such seasons was given. He sware to Noah. Though the
+first inspired historian does not mention the fact, it is recorded.
+"This is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the
+waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I
+would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee."[116] To Abraham he
+sware,--"For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by
+no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless
+thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee."[117] The oath of God was
+made to Isaac.[118] To Israel at Sinai: when the Lord brought them out
+of Egypt He lifted up His hand.[119] It is because not merely that with
+His finger He wrote the law on two tables of stone, but that in lifting
+up his hand in swearing to them there, while giving the law, that it is
+said,--"From his right hand went a fiery law for them."[120] And to
+David also, in making a covenant with him, the Lord sware. "The Lord
+hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; of the fruit
+of thy body will I set upon thy throne."[121]
+
+Even in those ordinary cases in which, on Covenanting, communion with
+God is enjoyed, He Covenants with them. This is implied in the very
+designation of the exercise; but it is otherwise obvious. We have no
+reason to believe that when Israel Covenanted in the land of Moab such
+manifestations of God's presence as were vouchsafed at Sinai were made.
+But then the Lord made an oath to his people, and thereby Covenanted
+with them. "That thou shouldst enter into covenant with the Lord thy
+God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this
+day."[122] Yea there, after whatever manner, He avouched them to be His
+people. "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk
+in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his
+judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: and the Lord hath avouched
+thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and
+that thou shouldest keep all his commandments."[123] Yea, except the
+contrary be stated or implied somewhere, we should not be warranted in
+maintaining that the oath of God was not always given on occasions of
+Covenanting, before the Canon of Scripture was closed. In the historic
+record of Jacob's life no account is given of God's making an oath to
+him. Yet we are certain that He covenanted with him. And that he
+actually sware to him, is one of the conclusions that may be
+legitimately drawn from the words, "As he hath sworn unto thy fathers,
+to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."[124] And that He, under this last
+dispensation, always Covenants with believers, when they vow and swear
+to Him, is manifest from those declarations in which he promises to make
+a covenant with them. Whether or not on these occasions he absolutely
+makes an oath, is not revealed. That we should know whether or not he
+does so, is not necessary, else the book of Divine revelation had not
+been completed. But even though, as under the law, when the sons of
+Aaron on entering on the priesthood, took vows upon them to fulfil its
+duties, he should not actually make a new oath, the vows and oaths of
+His people came up before Him as formerly they did from before his
+altar, and the oaths which He had sworn before, even on their behalf,
+are made available to them. Thus Israel were enjoined, "That thou
+shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath,
+which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day; that he may establish
+thee to-day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a
+God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers,
+to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this
+covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day
+before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this
+day."[125] And thus were encouraged those who should succeed these in
+drawing near to God. "The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to
+the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his
+servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and
+taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain;
+and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and
+their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar: for mine house shall
+be called an house of prayer for all people."[126]
+
+Now, Covenanting must be engaged in intelligently. Not merely must there
+be a desire to perform the service; but there must be an enlightened
+apprehension of its nature. "It is a snare to the man who devoureth that
+which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry."[127] Applicable to the
+intellectual discernment that true faith includes, as well as to that
+grace in its spiritual character, is the declaration, "He that cometh to
+God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
+diligently seek him."[128] The Covenant children of God are taught of
+him, and draw near to him as if He were not unknown, but revealed to
+them in his grace. Though none can by searching find out God, nor find
+out the Almighty unto perfection, yet those whom He saves know whom they
+worship. According to the instructions delivered in his word, must be
+the performance of every service of religion; and the character of God
+as revealed, is that which must be apprehended in the discharge of each.
+It was according to a Divine warrant and direction that the saints of
+old entered into Covenant; and every lawful approach to him by vow or
+oath requires a just appreciation of his character. "The Lord shall be
+known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and
+shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the
+Lord, and perform it."[129] "This shall be the covenant that I will make
+with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put
+my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be
+their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
+every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know ye the
+Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the
+greatest of them, saith the Lord."[130]
+
+Secondly. Covenanting must be engaged in cordially. That is not
+religious homage which comes not from the heart. For an intelligent
+being in any case to utter any thing that is inconsistent with the
+thoughts of the mind is sinful; but in this case it is peculiarly
+foolish and daring. If the affections of the heart be sanctified, they
+will be elevated to God in every religious exercise, and especially in
+this. Those who value their own souls, will not be devoid of intense
+concern for their salvation, when before God they engage in testifying
+to their acceptance thereof. They who seek to glorify God, will in this
+draw near to him with their mouth, and with their lips do honour to him,
+but not remove their hearts far from him. If a transaction that concerns
+only a limited part of this world's good is often important, how much
+more that which concerns the enjoyment of God as a portion! If an
+engagement that concerns a few years' enjoyment is often found to
+engross all the feelings of the mind, how absorbent of all the best
+exercises of the heart should be a transaction for communion with God to
+eternity! The men of Judah, on a solemn occasion, afforded an important
+pattern in this. "All Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn
+with all their heart."[131] And wherever the Covenant of God will be
+taken hold upon by men returning to him, the whole heart will be
+engaged. "I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and
+they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return
+unto me with their whole heart."[132]
+
+Thirdly. Covenanting must be engaged in with deliberation. To avow the
+resolution, to abandon the service of satan and to fight under the
+banner of Christ, is an exercise that entails momentous consequences.
+And corresponding to its importance should be the fixedness of heart
+called to its performance. In it a solemn attestation and adherence to a
+choice of God as a Lord and Master, is made before him. Joshua's
+patriotic and pious address at Shechem was delivered, not that Israel
+should all choose God as if none of them had chosen him before, but that
+those who had not cleaved to his Covenant should then cleave to it, and
+that those who had taken hold upon it before, should again adhere to it.
+He said, "If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this
+day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that
+were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in
+whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the
+Lord." And all attempting such an exercise, should possess a devotedness
+such as that evinced by the answer returned by the people,--"God forbid
+that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods, for the Lord our
+God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of
+Egypt, from the house of bondage."[133]
+
+Fourthly. Covenanting should be engaged in with sincerity, and with a
+resolution to perform the engagement made. Dreadful are the
+denunciations uttered against such as swear falsely. The Lord swears in
+truth: he will not turn from it. And how daring on the part of any is it
+to swear falsely in making a covenant! In an oath given falsely, God is
+defied, his power to punish is challenged, and the stroke of his
+indignation is impiously invoked to descend upon the guilty juror's
+head. "If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid
+upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in
+this house: then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants,
+condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying
+the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness."[134] The
+people of God swear, "The Lord liveth," in truth, in righteousness, and
+in judgment. With David they can declare, "I have sworn, and I will
+perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments."[135] Each of them
+may be denominated, "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who
+hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."[136]
+And firm will be their purpose to keep their pledge given in vowing unto
+God--"Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse."[137]
+
+Fifthly. In the first ages, the exercise was accompanied by sacrifice.
+The phrase (כרת ברית), which is most commonly employed to
+designate the making of a covenant, consists of two terms, each of which
+conducts us to the sacrificial rite. The latter of these, (ברית, a
+covenant,) would appear to be derived from a verb which,
+according to circumstances, bears the significations, _to cut, to
+choose, to eat_. The connection between all these and an expression
+which means _to purify_, is not obscure, nor is their relation to a word
+(בר), with which that so rendered is intimately connected,
+difficult to be traced. That which is eaten is made choice of for its
+purity, or because that by cutting, it is separated from what is less
+fitted for food, or even during the process of eating is cut. It is an
+opinion held by one class of commentators, that the reason why that term
+is put to signify _a covenant_, is, that it may be deduced from the verb
+bearing the meaning _to choose_, and to which there would appear no
+objection, provided that that meaning were reckoned to be secondary to
+the signification _to eat_. The idea implied in the verb _to choose_ is
+essentially abstract. Not so is that included in either the verb _to
+cut_, or the verb _to eat_. From one of these, which may be considered
+as collateral primary meanings, it must therefore be deduced. And since
+it cannot be deduced from the one without the other, it must
+consequently be derived from the latter. But since, on the occasion of
+entering into covenant, feasts were wont to be kept, and since the flesh
+of animals slain for sacrifice was not seldom partaken of by those
+associated to present them, there is reason to conclude that food eaten
+on the occasion of solemn Covenanting included the flesh of sacred
+victims, and that while this term for _Covenant_ may be considered as
+derived immediately from an expression signifying _to choose_, it is to
+be viewed as tracing its origin to the same expression viewed as
+denoting _to eat_, because the flesh of sacrifice afforded to the
+federal parties a means of convivial entertainment in the accustomed
+friendly feast. The other of these terms (כרת) means
+literally _to cut_. It is used in describing the operation of cutting in
+twain the animal sacrificed at the ratification of a covenant. "I will
+give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not
+performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when
+they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof. The
+princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the
+priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts
+of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and
+into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall
+be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the
+earth."[138] The practice of so dividing the victim was evidently in
+accordance with the operation performed by Abraham, when the Lord made
+a covenant with him.[139] Indeed, in the record given of that
+transaction, a different term (בתר) is used to denote the
+performance of the division, but this the more establishes its fact. And
+though God's covenant is before spoken of as having been established,
+and though Noah, on the occasion of his adhering to that covenant
+immediately after the flood, offered sacrifice,[140] yet, it is in the
+account given of that with Abraham, and as if the practice of cutting
+the victim in twain had originated when it was entered into, that the
+phrase connecting the two terms or their modifications is first used.
+Thereafter, however, in reference to every variety of solemn Covenant
+engagements, the phrase is adopted. It is employed to describe the
+entering into covenant of men with men before the Lord, and consequently
+of both parties with him. The cases of David and the elders of Israel at
+Hebron,[141] and of Jehoash and his people,[142] afford instances.
+Another such case is found in the account of the league between Joshua
+and the princes of the congregation, and the Gibeonites.[143] In the
+commands forbidding Israel to enter into covenant with the Canaanites,
+or their gods, the phrase is used.[144] It is used when men are
+represented as making a covenant with God. The record of that of Israel,
+under Ezra, gives an illustration.[145] And it is the form of expression
+by which the Lord himself is represented as entering into covenant with
+men. The records of the transactions at Sinai and Moab, of his covenant
+with David, and of his purposes to enter into covenant with his people,
+as those appear in his precious word of promise, as well as other
+passages, contain it. Yea, sometimes even where that word of the phrase
+which means _covenant_ is omitted, the meaning of the other is most
+manifestly the same as that of the whole.[146]
+
+The bisection of the victim symbolized Christ slain and affording access
+to God through himself. The act pointed out precisely what was
+represented by the rending of the vail of the temple, when Jesus
+suffered on the cross. Both signified his death, and the opening up
+thereby of a way of access to God. The act of passing between the parts
+of the sacrifice was an emblem of the exercise of holding communion with
+God, as made known in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. As
+when the vail was rent the most holy place was no longer concealed, but
+might be approached with safety; so when Jesus suffered there was
+presented the reality of that provision for communion with God, which
+was typified by the cutting of the calf in twain and passing between the
+parts thereof. And the believing Covenanter employed in performing that
+exercise enjoyed substantially the blessedness which is in reserve for
+those who, in contemplation of the exercise of renewing their vows to
+God, are enabled with an apostle to say,--"Having therefore, brethren,
+boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and
+living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is
+to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let
+us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our
+hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
+pure water;" and being strengthened with Divine grace, after engaging in
+it, he would feel disposed to do as these in similar circumstances in
+ages long future urged:--"Let us hold fast the _profession_ of our faith
+without wavering (for he is faithful that promised.)"[147]
+
+The act of swearing by the name of God was wont to be symbolized by the
+offering of sacrifice. It has been shown that the number _seven_ was an
+emblem of the oath. One of the things, therefore, denoted by the
+offering of seven sacrifices was the swearing of it. Once, and again and
+again, did Balak at Balaam's suggestion build seven altars, and offer a
+bullock and a ram on every altar.[148] And whether we believe the
+religious homage presented on each occasion to have been in ignorance
+addressed to the true God, or to some idol, there is reason to conclude
+that the injunction of the false prophet was suggested by the practice
+of the people of God, and that the service was an emblematical
+representation of the religious worship offered in the swearing of the
+oath. Besides, was not his design to curse Israel either by the true
+God, or by some gods of the heathen? And was it not in imitation of some
+such practices, as that which he attempted, that Goliath cursed David by
+his gods? But offerings of this kind were presented when federal
+transactions were ratified by the worshippers of God. After the three
+friends of Job had uttered all their hard speeches against him, the Lord
+addressed to them a command which included not less than the injunction,
+to enter into an amicable compact with the afflicted character whom they
+had so much misrepresented, and also to accompany it with a religious
+service.[149] The duty enjoined embodied likewise a confession of sin
+and an appeal to God for the truth of their acknowledgments. The
+covenant promise made to them was, that God would accept them through
+the intercession of Job,--not as if that were of itself meritorious, but
+approved through the great Mediator. The offering of seven bullocks and
+seven rams was a confirmation of their friendly Covenant, and could not
+be less than an emblem of their oath to the Most High. Finally. In the
+first year of his reign, Hezekiah declared, "Now it is in mine heart to
+make a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may
+turn away from us." That He, the priests and Levites, the rulers of
+Jerusalem, and as many of the congregation of Israel as were present,
+carried his design into effect, for the first time, on the occasion of
+the solemnities which took place in the first month, appears from his
+command, uttered when he declared his devout intention. He said,--"My
+sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before
+him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him and burn incense
+(or, _offer sacrifice_)."[150] That all Judah and Israel were enjoined
+to accede to the Covenant, in the second month, is manifest from the
+King's command to them--"Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers
+were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary,
+which he hath sanctified for ever; and serve the Lord your God, that the
+fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you."[151] That such of them
+as came up to the passover, at the King's command, by the word of the
+Lord, gave their adherence to what had been done before at Jerusalem,
+appears from the account given of them engaging in making confession to
+the Lord God of their fathers. And whether or not the keeping of the
+feast, for the accustomed seven days, and other seven days besides,
+symbolized the act of swearing to the Lord, with a cordiality which the
+repetition denoted, sacrifices were offered, both on the occasion of the
+making of the Covenant and on that of the people's latter acquiescence
+in it, and on the former when sacrifices were presented for Israel, the
+sin-offering--testifying to the oaths that were then sworn, was offered
+by sevens.
+
+It is explicitly said, that a Covenant with God was made by sacrifice.
+It is not obscurely intimated in Scripture that the people of Israel,
+who fell into idolatry by offering sacrifice on high places, made a
+Covenant with idols instead of God himself. The practice must have been
+a corruption of the worship of God. The vow was made frequently not
+merely to offer sacrifice, but by the offering of oblation. "Gather my
+saints together unto me; those that have made a Covenant with me by
+sacrifice."[152]
+
+And Covenants were ratified by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifice.
+A full account is given of the practice in the record of the Covenant
+transaction at Sinai. Moses "sent young men of the children of Israel,
+which offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen
+unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons;
+and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of
+the Covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All
+that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the
+blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the
+covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these
+words."[153] The blood sprinkled on the altar testified to the Lord's
+acceptance of the sacrifice and of the people who presented it, and to
+the Father's acquiescence in and approval of the great propitiation that
+should be made for sin. The sprinkling of the blood upon the people
+signified the application of the blood of Christ for pardon,
+pacification, and cleansing, to the consciences of a ransomed community.
+The Lord Jesus being that sacrifice that was slain for the confirmation
+of the everlasting Covenant, his blood is represented as the blood of
+the Covenant. And the blood of sacrifice that was sprinkled was a type
+of his. To that sacrifice, the ancient covenanter, presenting his
+oblation, looked forward. To look to him so, in taking hold upon his
+Covenant, before his incarnation, there was given the encouragement--"As
+for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy
+prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water."[154] And now, though
+oblation is no more offered in the same spirit in which Covenant was
+made by sacrifice, the Covenanting believer vowing to God comes to
+"Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
+that speaketh better things than that of Abel."[155]
+
+Sixthly. In all ages, the exercise is performed by faith. As without
+faith it is impossible to please God, so in this act it is not less
+requisite than in any other. In order to the right performance of it,
+faith in God, as having given it his warrant, and as having made
+precious promises to be laid hold on in engaging in it, and dependence
+on Divine grace for strength to accomplish it, is necessary. It is by
+faith that the way of salvation through Christ is approved; by faith,
+Christ and all his benefits are received; by faith, God, as a God in
+covenant, is recognised; by faith, are renounced the claims of the
+devil, the world, and the flesh; by faith, is the whole man dedicated to
+the service of God; and by faith, every promise of obedience, that God
+may be glorified, is made. Of Abraham taking hold on God's covenant by
+accepting of the promise, it is said, "He believed in the Lord, and he
+counted it to him for righteousness."[156] Swearing to the Lord in
+faith, "Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and
+strength."[157] And all who have properly engaged in this exercise will
+testify, "I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God."[158] With
+the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
+confession is made unto salvation. And as in the first actings of faith,
+so in this solemn act, the Redeemer is received as able also to save
+them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
+to make intercession for them. Faith in him as the one foundation laid
+in Zion, in preference to every other, the believer endeavours
+habitually to cherish, and especially at seasons of solemn
+self-surrender to God, or of public vowing to him, seeks to have in
+vigorous exercise. At these, the mind is brought more than is usual to
+deal with the object of faith. The Lord Jesus in his exceeding glory,
+often speaks to the heart, and the whole faculties of the soul respond.
+So that, especially applicable to the believer's exercises, then, is
+what, in the following language of an eminent writer, is said concerning
+the universal tendency of faith in the righteousness of Christ:--"When
+he discovers his own guilt and misery, and the absolute perfection and
+ineffable excellencies of this righteousness, the believer requires no
+force nor compulsion to embrace it. When the avenger of blood was at his
+heels, did the manslayer require any violence to urge him on to the
+asylum where he might lodge secure? When the deluge of wrath was
+descending, and all around becoming one watery waste, was any force
+necessary to shut Noah up in the ark, where he might abide in safety
+amidst the wreck and horrors of a sinking world? And when conscience
+writes bitter things against him, and makes him possess the iniquities
+of his youth; when the heavens are gathering blackness, and before him
+he sees, at the opening into eternity, the piercing eyes of Omniscience
+looking fully on him through the terrors of insulted, incensed
+omnipotent justice: does the believer need any compulsion to drive him
+out of his own lying refuges, and constrain him to betake himself to the
+Divine and All-sufficient righteousness of Immanuel? No. He repairs to
+it with eagerness, and clings to it with a tenacity that time cannot
+relax, nor all the agonies of death dissolve. We speak of trust,
+dependence, and reliance, on this righteousness. These however are terms
+far too feeble to express the affection towards it, which the believer
+feels. He prefers it to his chief joy; glories in it as all his
+salvation and all his desire, and determines to know nothing else.
+Divinely precious and infinitely perfect as it is, there is no part of
+it with which he can dispense. Less than this cannot reach his wretched
+case, nor impart the blessings that he wants. His polluted and
+never-dying soul needs it all: and, therefore, he embraces it wholly,
+and rests on it alone[159]."
+
+Seventhly. The exercise requires that it be engaged in devotionally. It
+is a part of religious worship, and claims that solemnity of mind that
+is due to every religious service. Every part of it is an exercise of
+religion, and the frame of mind that should be brought to each of them
+ought to be sustained in waiting on the whole. All things that could
+give solemnity to an observance unite to invest this with a devout
+character. The claims of its glorious Object, its own essential nature,
+and its design, all conspire in this.
+
+It was performed in the solemn assemblies of the people of God. The
+oaths of his people were wont to come up before his altar. The people of
+Judah and Jerusalem, both under Jehoash and Josiah, and those of Judah,
+besides many of the kingdom of Israel, observed the exercise in the
+temple. When performed not in religious edifices, but where the Lord
+himself approved, it was not the less observed in his presence, nor the
+less sacred a service. What gives to a religious assembly all its
+solemnity, is the gracious presence of God. And this, which gave to the
+house of God its holy character, confers on every place where his people
+meet, whether in houses built with hands or under the canopy of heaven,
+the character of a scene for the time set apart to his service. The
+scene and the nature of the services correspond. By the scene where this
+observance was kept, whether in the desert of Sinai, in the fruitful
+land of Moab, in the temple at Jerusalem in its earlier periods, in
+Jerusalem surrounded with ruins, but to be rebuilt, in houses erected
+for the worship of God, or in the fruitful vallies, or on the barren
+heath,--a scene of communion with God, its character, as an exercise
+essentially devotional, is defined.
+
+It is a holy exercise. Both in the Old Testament and in the New, the
+Covenant of God is declared to be holy. He himself is holy, and he
+requires that his people be holy too. And dissuading Israel from
+confederating with the heathen, and in language addressed to all,
+calling them to the exercise of Covenanting embodied in fearing his
+name, he commands them to approach him as holy. "Say ye not, A
+confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy;
+neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts
+himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread."[160]
+
+It should be performed with godly fear and reverence. The Lord was made
+known not merely as the God of Abraham, and the portion of Jacob, but to
+intimate the same Covenant relation which these designations pointed
+out, as also the fear of Isaac. And as Isaac, in Covenanting with Him
+whom he acknowledged as his fear, could not but cherish towards him a
+holy awe, so all possessed of an interest in that covenant into which
+Isaac was taken, in vowing to the Lord, fear his holy name; and giving
+intimation of the reverential feelings that prevail in their minds
+while performing the exercise, in their practice they will verify the
+prediction, "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."
+
+The exercise requires to be accompanied by confession of sin. It is as
+sinners seeking forgiveness that men, however much they may have enjoyed
+the blessings of the Covenant, perform it. Because of neglect or
+forgetfulness of Covenant engagements, because of imperfections numerous
+and great attaching to obedience rendered in fulfilling them, because of
+misapprehensions of their nature and design, and the want of that holy
+ardour that should never cease to urge to duties voluntarily engaged to,
+because of innumerably varied infirmities manifested even while in a
+Covenant state, confession behoves to be made. The Covenant of Grace was
+revealed after the breach of that of Works. For removing the curse
+entailed by sin, its revelation was designed. A right apprehension of
+its design is accompanied by a sense of sin. When its terms are
+accepted, hatred to all iniquity is professed; and, because of the power
+of corruption in leading to disobedience, shame must be felt, and
+acknowledgment be made before God. On these occasions a sin-offering was
+wont to be _cut_.[161] The practice of making confession, then, was
+fully illustrated in the conduct both of Ezra and Nehemiah, and of
+Israel with them. Concerning Israel--attempting the service, it is said,
+"They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them:
+I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a straight way,
+wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim
+is my first-born."[162] And the Gentiles, being not less chargeable with
+sin than the seed of Abraham in the same circumstances, will not be less
+called than those to acknowledge it; so that to them, as sons of the
+spiritual Zion, may be applied the prophetic description of duty
+contained in the words uttered concerning the other,--"In those days,
+and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come,
+they and the children of Judah together going and weeping: they shall
+go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with
+their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the
+Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten."[163]
+
+And, the vow is made in the exercise of prayer. The term (ευχη)
+by which the Seventy render the word for a vow in the Old
+Testament original, is used in the Greek of the New Testament to denote,
+now a vow and then a prayer. In the former sense it is employed in the
+original of the passage, "Do therefore this that we say unto thee: We
+have four men which have a _vow_ on them."[164] And in the latter
+acceptation it is used in that of the following:--"The _prayer_ of faith
+shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up."[165] Were the vow
+not made in the act of offering prayer we should be unable to account
+for this twofold use of the term. Again, taking prayer in its most
+comprehensive signification,--as including adoration, confession,
+petition, and thanksgiving,--no address to God, except the song of
+praise, can be made otherwise than in this exercise. The vow
+accordingly, as well as the oath--which embodies an adoration, is made
+by prayer. And, finally, this receives corroboration from the fact that
+the manner according to which, in vowing, prayer should be made is
+revealed. In this and in similar passages, not merely Israel after the
+flesh, but the whole visible church of God, are instructed how at once
+they should vow and pray.--"O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for
+thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to
+the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us
+graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips."[166]
+
+Eighthly. This exercise is sometimes engaged in with the living voice.
+Whatever argument can be employed to establish the propriety of engaging
+vocally in any religious service is here available. The tongue is the
+glory of man; and with it the praise of God is proclaimed. "In his
+temple doth every one speak of his glory." That thought concerning God,
+which may not in some circumstances be expressed, may not be
+entertained. And if some features of his glorious character or
+administration are celebrated with the lips, so may all. Holy thoughts
+and affections unexpressed are sometimes like a fire shut up in the
+bones. Why should not these burst forth in the holy act of vowing and
+swearing to God, even as a flame, to the diffusion of a love and zeal
+for Him and his cause that would spread widely around? This the saints
+of God have felt when called to the service. In the land of Moab Israel
+_avouched_ the Lord to be their God; and presenting an animating
+example, the kingdom of Judah, with Asa their king, "sware unto the Lord
+with a loud voice."[167]
+
+Lastly. A Covenant with God is sometimes confirmed by subscription.
+Probably in imitation of the practice of the people of God, covenants
+among idolaters were written. "Your covenant with death shall be
+disannulled,"[168] (that is, _covered_ or _blotted_ out, as if it had
+been written.) The application of the seal was equivalent to the
+signature of the hand. It must have been made on occasions of federal
+ratification, and it might then have accompanied the subscription of the
+name. There is reason to believe that Nehemiah referred to an imitation
+of an ancient practice when he said, "And because of all this, we make
+a sure covenant, and write it: and our princes, Levites, and priests,
+seal unto it."[169] But to whatever extent the practice may have
+obtained in the earlier times, it possesses the highest warrant during
+every period that should succeed. "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and
+another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall
+_subscribe_ with his hand unto the Lord."[170]
+
+Hence, in the first place, religious Covenanting is an exercise distinct
+from every other. The vow cannot be mistaken for anything else; and the
+swearing of the oath is marked by a character of its own.
+
+Every religious act is, or ought to be, performed with a solemn regard
+to Covenant obligation. But each one of these is not Covenanting. The
+spirit of Covenanting enters into praise and prayer, and every other
+exercise of a devotional kind; but the exercise itself, performed in an
+explicit and solemn manner, is a part of worship different from all
+these. To argue that it is not, as some who are opposed to the explicit
+performance of it do, would be to go to the extreme of maintaining that
+Covenanting should be engaged in, not merely personally on one occasion,
+but habitually in the discharge of every religious duty; and thus to
+lead to a very frequent, and, we might add, therefore unwarrantable
+performance of the service, instead of discountenancing it altogether.
+To perform a vow is not to vow a vow. To vow to do one thing is not to
+vow to perform another that is distinct from it. To vow to do duty that
+might have been clearly apprehended before, is not to engage by vow to
+do duty for the first time now unfolded before the mind. Prayer includes
+praise; but to pray is not to sing praise. Covenanting may include in it
+every religious exercise. But to perform any or all of these, excepting
+the use of the seals of the Covenant, may not be formally to Covenant.
+Indeed, the exercise is the sum of all others of a religious
+description; and as embodying not merely the spirit, but the observance
+of the spiritual services performed in all of them, ought with due
+solemnity on meet occasions formally to be engaged in. Sacrifice
+accompanied vowing in former times; but sacrifice was offered on other
+occasions besides. Sacrifice was presented frequently in order that the
+vow might be paid; but sacrifice was not the making of the vow. Faith is
+always in exercise when Covenanting is engaged in aright; but it is also
+in operation when Covenant engagements are not made, but in some measure
+fulfilled. Covenanting is performed with holy fear and reverence; but
+are these feelings never in exercise except when the oath is sworn or
+the vow is made? The people of God fear him habitually, even though not
+engaged in positive religious services. Covenanting is engaged in along
+with confession of sin; but the exercise itself is not the confession of
+sin. Sin is sometimes acknowledged before God when no new positive
+engagement is made. Covenanting is engaged in by prayer; but prayer is
+of a varied character, and though every vow is made in prayer, yet every
+prayer is not offered in entering into Covenant.
+
+But, in the second and last place, hence also appears the error of the
+opinion, that seeing this exercise is performed in certain acknowledged
+duties, therefore by itself it is unnecessary. It is not denied that the
+oath is used to confirm civil obligations. But no one is therefore
+warranted in maintaining that to apply it so, is to use it in things
+religious. It is one thing to admit that vowing is a part of the duty
+implied in receiving the sacrament of baptism and the Lord's supper; it
+is another to maintain that the vow or oath should not be used in other
+circumstances. The vow is defined in Scripture, but the things to be
+vowed, and the cases in which it should be made are also in general
+pointed out. To declare that the vow should be made, for example, merely
+on sacramental occasions, would be to assume, that a part adopted by men
+should stand for the whole appointed by God. Is it said, that in these
+two sacramental exercises there is made a general engagement, that
+comprehends every duty that could possibly be performed, and therefore
+it is unnecessary to engage in formal Covenanting? On the same principle
+it might be said, that the sinner who has received Christ at first has
+no need to act faith upon him again;--that the believer has even no need
+to receive the ordinance of baptism for his children, or that of the
+Lord's supper for himself;--that the individual who has believed should
+not Covenant personally in an explicit manner; yea,--that he who has
+sworn to the Lord, in attending to the ordinance of baptism or of the
+supper, has no need in any case, even in reference to matters civil, to
+swear again. It might as well be said, that, in receiving the ordinance
+of baptism, vows are taken on, which include every case that could
+occur, and that, therefore, after that there is no necessity for waiting
+on the ordinance of the supper;--or that the waiting on that ordinance
+on one occasion would afford a reason for neglecting both the
+dispensation of it and of the ordinance of baptism ever thereafter. In
+one word, it might be answered, that the opinion makes no provision for
+the believer's growth in grace, but by dealing with him as if he were
+perfect in all respects, rather tends to keep him from attaining to
+perfection. One approved exercise is not to be sacrificed to others. On
+the same principle that Covenanting might be given up because vows are
+made to God in receiving the sacrament, might praise be given up
+because God is thanked in prayer; or prayer be discontinued because He
+is adored and thanked, and presented with confession of sin, and
+supplications for mercies, in songs of praise. But, besides, as the
+Lord's supper ought not to be substituted for baptism, nor baptism for
+the Lord's supper, so neither ought either or both to take the place of
+various other specific exercises of vowing to God. The vow made on the
+reception of baptism is suited especially to the occasion. Other vows
+are not less suitable to other circumstances than that is to its own.
+The vow made at the Lord's table may include the sum of all duty; but
+where is the evidence that it ought not in other circumstances also to
+be made? At that holy communion each believer swears individually to a
+profession of his faith with his brethren, and to specific exercises
+consistent with his own condition; but that is no reason why the oath to
+perform certain requirements of God's law should not be explicitly and
+openly sworn. Apart from the sacramental symbols, the exercise of
+explicit Covenanting may embody the making of vows to perform every
+duty, and include every part of religious worship. And as it was
+attended to under the Old Testament economy, when neither the rite of
+circumcision nor some other observances of the Levitical dispensation
+had been instituted, nay, even when that rite after its institution was
+not being applied, so under the present dispensation it may be engaged
+in when the seals of the Covenant are or are not dispensed. The
+magnitude, and variety, and demands of the objects embraced by it,
+define the times necessary for engaging in it. Changes in providence
+should lead, and in some measure direct in observing it. It is in
+certain occurrences in providence, ordinary though they be, that we are
+presented with the season meet for every other religious act. The
+morning and evening, and the times of partaking of the necessaries and
+comforts of life for the nourishment of the body, especially afford
+opportunities for offering supplication and thanksgiving. Deliverances
+from afflictions, and support under them when vouchsafed, call for the
+acknowledgment of the great goodness and tender compassion of God. The
+suffering of individual and social distress, and the pangs of
+bereavement, call for the recognition of his holy sovereignty with the
+deepest humility and resignation; and not less should the changes for
+evil or good that take place in society, and the obvious necessities
+that attach to our own spiritual condition, and the wants of our
+fellow-creatures around us and over the habitable earth, urge us to
+those exercises of special solemn Covenanting with God, which are
+peculiarly fitted to meet their demands.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[116] Isa. liv. 9.
+
+[117] Heb. vi. 13, 14.
+
+[118] Ps. cv. 9.
+
+[119] Ezek. xx. 5.
+
+[120] Deut. xxxiii. 2.
+
+[121] Ps. cxxxii. 11.
+
+[122] Deut. xxix. 12.
+
+[123] Deut. xxvi. 17, 18.
+
+[124] Deut. xxix. 13.
+
+[125] Deut. xxix. 12-15.
+
+[126] Is. lvi. 6, 7.
+
+[127] Prov. xx. 25.
+
+[128] Heb. xi. 6.
+
+[129] Is. xix. 21.
+
+[130] Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.
+
+[131] 2 Chron. xv. 15.
+
+[132] Jer. xxiv. 7.
+
+[133] Josh. xxiv. 15-17.
+
+[134] 1 Kings viii. 31, 32.
+
+[135] Ps. cxix. 106.
+
+[136] Ps. xxiv. 4.
+
+[137] 1 Chron. xii. 18.
+
+[138] Jer. xxxiv. 18-20.
+
+[139] Gen. xv. 8-18.
+
+[140] Gen. ix. 11.-viii. 20.
+
+[141] 2 Sam. v. 3.
+
+[142] 2 Kings xi. 4.
+
+[143] Josh. ix. 6, 7.
+
+[144] Exod. xxiii. 32.
+
+[145] Ezra x. 3.
+
+[146] 2 Chron. vii. 18.
+
+[147] Heb. x. 19-23.
+
+[148] Num. xxiii.
+
+[149] Job xlii. 7-9.
+
+[150] 2 Chron. xxix. 10, 11. See also, v. 20-24.
+
+[151] 2 Chron. xxx. 8.
+
+[152] Ps. l. 5.
+
+[153] Exod. xxiv. 5-8.
+
+[154] Zech. ix. 11.
+
+[155] Heb. xii. 24.
+
+[156] Gen. xv. 6.
+
+[157] Is. xlv. 24.
+
+[158] Ps. xxxi. 14.
+
+[159] The Rev. Dr. Hamilton, late of Strathblane, "On the Assurance of
+Salvation." 2d edition. pp. 122, 123.
+
+[160] Is. viii. 12, 13.
+
+[161] 2 Chron. xxix. 21.
+
+[162] Jer. xxxi. 9.
+
+[163] Jer. l. 4, 5.
+
+[164] Acts xxi. 23.
+
+[165] James v. 15.
+
+[166] Hos. xiv. 1, 2.
+
+[167] 2 Chron. xv. 14.
+
+[168] כפר Is. xxviii. 18.
+
+[169] Neh. ix. 38.
+
+[170] Is. xliv. 5.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+COVENANTING A DUTY.
+
+
+The exercise of Covenanting with God is enjoined by Him as the Supreme
+Moral Governor of all. That his Covenant should be acceded to, by men in
+every age and condition, is ordained as a law, sanctioned by his high
+authority,--recorded in his law of perpetual moral obligation on men, as
+a statute decreed by him, and in virtue of his underived sovereignty,
+promulgated by his command. "He hath commanded his covenant for
+ever."[171]
+
+The exercise is inculcated according to the will of God, as King and
+Lord of all. Being a part of his worship, it is thus urged,--"The Lord
+is a great God, and a great King above all gods."--"O come, let us
+worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is
+our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his
+hand. To-day if ye will hear his voice."[172] And explicitly, in the
+same connection are the various observances included in it presented in
+precept. "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy
+God, the earth also, with all that therein is."--"For the Lord your God
+is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible,
+which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward."--"Thou shalt fear the
+Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and
+swear by his name."[173]
+
+The observance is a debt of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, as
+possessed of all power in heaven and in earth. He is King of Zion, the
+Governor among the nations, and Head over all things to the church,
+which is his body. As all are called to honour the Son, even as they
+honour the Father, the service that is due to God, as the righteous
+Ruler of all, is due to the Son--holding a universal mediatorial
+dominion which shall not pass away. The law of God is the law of Christ,
+and obedience to Christ is subjection to God. The Lord Jesus commands
+the performance as duty to himself. "Hearken, O daughter, and consider,
+and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's
+house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord;
+and worship thou him."[174] In terms applicable in every age, as their
+Lord and Master, he said to his disciples, "Whosoever therefore shall
+_confess_ me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which
+is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
+deny before my Father which is in heaven."[175] And he having both died
+and risen, and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and
+living, claims the individual parts of the exercise as homage to his
+name. "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. For it is
+written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
+every tongue shall confess to God."[176]
+
+Believers engaging in personal Covenanting, act as being not without law
+to God, but under law to Christ. As the _servants_ of God they thus
+transact with him. Jacob, as well as others who have vowed to God
+without being condemned, being represented as God's servant,[177] must
+in such acts have served him. Addressed individually as well as
+collectively in these terms, "Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and
+Israel, whom I have chosen," those yield obedience, when in their
+practice is fulfilled the prophecy, itself a command, "One shall say, I
+am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and
+another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself
+by the name of Israel." That the churches of Macedonia Covenanted with
+God is manifest from the words,--"This they did, not as we hoped, but
+first gave their ownselves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of
+God."[178] But in writing to the Thessalonians--one of those churches,
+an apostle describes them, as in that, and in consequent performances,
+serving God. "They themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we
+had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to _serve_ the living
+and true God."[179] Nor without entertaining an enlightened apprehension
+that in that exercise he served God, could the Psalmist performing it
+say,--"O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of
+thy handmaid."[180] Moreover, every believer is a good _soldier_ of
+Jesus Christ. Each one of them is called by His authoritative command,
+as well as by the effectual influences of his Spirit. "He is Lord of
+lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and
+chosen, and faithful."[181] Each, like the governors and people of
+Israel, who, on a memorable occasion, at God's command, offered
+themselves willingly--each made willing in a day of his power, resolving
+and vowing to follow the Lord fully, does obedience to the Lord of
+Hosts: bows to the mandate, "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear,
+and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with
+you, even the sure mercies of David:"[182] and dutifully engages by
+covenant and oath to serve him--given for a leader and commander to the
+people. Besides, each one who lawfully vows to God, in vowing discharges
+a function of a loyal _subject_ of God's government. In the vow God is
+invoked as King. "Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God:
+for unto thee will I pray."[183] As the swearing of allegiance to an
+earthly monarch is an act of obedience to law;--as when all the princes
+and the mighty men, and all the sons, likewise, of King David, submitted
+themselves,[184]--or by oath promised fidelity to Solomon, the king,
+they performed an act of subjection to his authority; so in vowing or
+swearing to God there is paid to him a tribute of duty. And, finally, in
+this service the Lord is obeyed as God. The titles of, a master, a lord,
+a captain, a king, among men, are valid only when held in subjection to
+the King and Lord of all. The highest supremacy that belongs to
+creatures is limited, and exercised only by deputation from Him who is
+over all and blessed for ever. And as the claims of those in power,
+because armed with His authority, cannot without rebellion against him
+be set aside; much more, his, without aggravated hostility to him,
+cannot be disputed. Accordingly, his power and authority--unspeakably
+glorious--extending immeasurably beyond the province of every creature;
+his dominion and all-wise determinations, they who invoke his dread
+name, in vowing to him acknowledge and approve. The refusal of his
+enemies to call upon him manifests their rebellion. His people avouching
+him to be their God obey him. It is in compliance with the
+mandate,--"Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my
+people,"[185] that men take hold on his covenant, and in commemoration
+of their act, in terms recording the highest deed of appropriation, with
+the Psalmist say, "I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my
+God."[186]
+
+Social Covenanting engaged in by the Church of God, in an
+Ecclesiastical capacity, is an act of obedience to his word. That
+community, in its organization and laws essentially distinct from civil
+society, one throughout every age, and embracing the saints of every
+land, as one body, He designates, "My Servant." Whatsoever, therefore,
+is practised by the church in her collective capacity, however
+denominated, and without rebuke, is performed by her in this character.
+And hence, whether introduced as "Israel," or "Jacob," or "My People,"
+or as bearing any other honourable epithet, and vowing or swearing to
+the Lord, she appears under the aspect of a chosen society performing
+duty; and each promise and prophecy delivered concerning this, as well
+as each other allowable exercise, assumes the features of a precept, and
+each performance of it in truth, the marks of a warranted service. And
+the church, in this, is said to serve God. At Horeb, before the mission
+of Moses to Egypt, for the deliverance of Israel, the Lord, with regard
+to the solemnities of Covenanting that were there to occur, said to him,
+"When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall _serve_
+God upon this mountain."[187] Commanding and exhorting to engage in
+solemn covenant renovation, Hezekiah said to Israel,--"Now be ye not
+stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves (margin, _give
+the hand_) unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath
+sanctified for ever; and _serve_ the Lord your God, that the fierceness
+of his wrath may turn away from you."[188] And not less, than under a
+former dispensation, is the exercise represented as an act of obedience
+in New Testament times. There is no reason for maintaining that the
+apostle enjoined not the exercise of social, but merely that of personal
+Covenanting, when he thus addressed the Church of God at Rome,--"I
+beseech you there-fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
+present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
+is your reasonable _service_."[189]
+
+The exercise of Social Covenanting with God, performed by his Church
+both in an Ecclesiastical and a National capacity, is a part of his
+service. Being a religious observance, this cannot be performed by the
+members of the Church collectively, whether united ecclesiastically or
+otherwise, if not associated as the Church of God. But also when, united
+both ecclesiastically and in a national capacity, they address
+themselves to it, they discharge an obligation incumbent upon them. The
+Lord Jesus is King of saints.[190] Ruled by his laws, these, not merely
+in their ecclesiastical, but also in their civil relations, do homage to
+him. Under two aspects in their social capacity they appear. _First_, in
+subjection to Him as King of Zion. United to Christ their spiritual
+Head, and to one another in him, they are members of one glorious body.
+And being members of his Church--which he has distinguished by the
+ministry of reconciliation, by his oracles, and by special ordinances,
+they are under Him, as its sole Head, and Lawgiver, and Governor, and
+King. As one community, in their faith, their worship, their discipline,
+their government, and communion, they are under his authority. Judges,
+and magistrates, and kings, having power in civil society, are
+recognised with divine approbation. But there is no human head of the
+Church. There are who rule therein; but over his house, He alone is Head
+and King. In civil life, there are who sway the sceptre among men. He,
+the King of kings, and Lord of lords, rules over these. But in his house
+there is none other than Himself, who is Lord or King. He is the head of
+the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the
+dead; that in all things (or rather, _among all_) he might have the
+pre-eminence.[191] The apostles of our Lord were among those who, in the
+council held at Jerusalem several years after his ascension, acted as
+rulers in his Church by enacting a law which applied to the Christians
+at Antioch and elsewhere. And applicable to their conduct on such an
+occasion, and to that of all others exercising authority in the Church
+of God, were his words addressed to them before his death,--"Be ye not
+called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are
+brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your
+Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is
+your Master, even Christ."[192] The jurisdiction of the rulers in the
+Church is distinct from that of civil rulers. The powers of the former
+are spiritual, and with these powers the latter have no right to
+interfere. Each class of rulers have a sphere of their own; and only at
+their peril do those of the one class invade the authority of the other.
+By men the laws of a nation may be altered without being made
+contradictory to one another, or to oppose the law of God. But the laws
+of the Church were enacted by Christ himself. Suited to the
+circumstances of the Church has been their character in every age, and
+the changes that have been produced on these were made by Him alone. It
+is from a special revelation of his will that the precise character of
+the laws by which his Church ought to be ruled is obtained; and those
+ordinances for the government of his house, which are not revealed as
+His, are without authority. Since the close of the Canon of Scripture,
+no new light concerning the things of religion has been, or can be,
+given; and the laws of the New Testament Church are therefore fixed
+beyond the influence of change. There are various forms of civil
+government, all of which are consistent with the immutable law of God;
+and any one of which, accordingly, may warrantably be adopted according
+to circumstances. But in the Church of God, only one form of government
+is of Divine right: every other is an invention of man, and destitute of
+authority. In the course of providence, the institutions of the Church,
+like the doctrines of religion, will receive accessions of rich
+illustration; but, like these heavenly doctrines--beyond the resolutions
+of men, they are, according to the will of God, to stand. _Next_, as
+members of civil society, under Him as King of nations, they appear.
+Distinct from the organization of the Church, but also under Christ, is
+the constitution of civil society. In order to promote communion with
+God, were the ordinances of the former appointed. In order that God
+might be obeyed by men in their mutual intercourse with one another, the
+laws of the latter were decreed. That God might be glorified
+immediately, the former was constituted; that he might be glorified
+mediately, the latter was founded. The erection and government of the
+Church originated in Divine grace. The whole structure of civil
+government is derived from God as the moral Governor of the universe,
+but is put under Christ as the Mediator. The laws of the Church of God
+remain immutable, amid the changes that overtake the various communities
+of men. The laws of civil society may vary with the course of
+providence, and yet be still consistent with the perfect standard of
+moral procedure. The laws of the house of God are applicable to men of
+every clime. Like all the commandments of the decalogue--which, indeed,
+they embody, they are binding on men in all possible circumstances and
+conditions; but, according to the state of society, may civil enactments
+vary in their absolute character, without transgressing the limits fixed
+by the moral law. The facts occurring in providence, enlarge not the
+compass of those laws that were promulgated by the King of Zion to her
+communion, but demand their application. The laws of civil society ought
+never to conflict with the principles of eternal righteousness; but with
+observation and discovery, and every change else in providence, it
+behoves them to keep pace. In the former, the Lord Jesus is recognised
+as the immediate lawgiver; in the latter, too, he is acknowledged as
+supreme lawgiver,--and, as having given to men civil power to be
+exercised, not otherwise than agreeably to the revelations of his
+will,--which unfold the mutual obligations, of nations and their rulers
+to one another, and of both to himself. Not less than as members of his
+Church, are men, as worthy members of civil society, the servants of
+Christ.
+
+Now, that in vowing and swearing to God in both capacities they serve
+him, appears from various considerations. Repeatedly are the people of
+Israel represented in Scripture as a nation, and as in their national
+character engaging in Covenanting. Both on the occasion of the
+solemnities at Sinai and in the land of Moab they are so designated.
+That they sustained this character under the kings of David's line is
+also manifest. That the whole people will, in gospel times, be united in
+such a relation the voice of prophecy would seem to indicate.[193] That,
+in whatever civil incorporations they may stand, they will be subject to
+Messiah, King of nations, is certain. Under the theocracy, they
+Covenanted as a nation, at Horeb, in the land of Moab, and at Shechem.
+Under Asa, and also under Josiah, the people in their civil capacity
+with their rulers Covenanted too. As a nation, after the return from
+Babylon, under Nehemiah, the whole people and their rulers also entered
+into covenant with God. On all these occasions the Church of God
+engaged to obey his law, not only regarding things ecclesiastical, but
+also things civil. Under the theocracy, Israel, in things civil and
+religious were called to obey God as their king. Under the kings of
+Judah, they were no less called in all relations to acknowledge God as
+their Lord. After their restoration, they will acknowledge Messiah at
+God's right hand as in all things their sovereign Lord. "My servant
+David shall be their prince for ever."[194] And the Gentile nations, in
+due time, will all do homage to Him as the Prince of the kings of the
+earth. Now, it has been shown before, that in Covenanting at Horeb
+Israel served God. If, then, they served him there in that exercise,
+they must have served him when again they engaged in it under the
+patriarch who led them, and also when they performed it under Joshua his
+successor. And as on such occasions, as a church and nation recognising
+God as their king, they obeyed him, so, not ceasing to recognise Him as
+in all relations their Lord and Master, the house of Jacob, under kings
+ruling in His fear, or judges acting according to his commandment,
+whether before or after a first or succeeding restoration; and the
+Gentile nations in gospel times, in vowing and swearing to Him in their
+ecclesiastical and national characters; must be viewed as willing
+servants obeying his commands.
+
+Covenanting is commanded in the Moral Law. In the ten commandments,
+containing a summary of that law, and in other passages that variously
+unfold its import, the exercise is presented as a duty.
+
+It is enjoined in the first three precepts of the decalogue. The manner
+of injunction is prohibitory of contrary practices; and accordingly
+intimates, with great force, that the duty is to be so steadfastly
+performed that departure from it, even in one instance, is not to be
+attempted. The first precept--forbidding all respect to other gods
+before God, implies, that He, before whom all things are manifest,
+claims not merely the misdirected homage paid to his creatures, but all
+the devout obedience of men; and that, demanding that adoring thoughts
+be entertained of Him alone, He commands that He be accepted and served
+as the only true God. To prefer God to others is not merely to cast them
+and their services off, but to acknowledge and reverence Him as the
+object of supreme regard. Man cannot be without some thoughts of a
+divinity. Even among those who would seem to have fallen most from the
+knowledge of God, something about their own characters or circumstances
+virtually usurps His place. The law of the ten commandments, written at
+first on the heart of man, and afterwards proclaimed by the voice of
+God, contemplated and anticipated every departure from the service due
+to Him that should occur throughout all time. Originating in the perfect
+nature of God, it is perfect. It reproves the rebellion of those who
+would worship the creature instead of the Creator, and is directed alike
+against the polytheist and him who, worshipping himself, says,--"no
+God." The first commandment condemns the idolater, of whatever class;
+includes that, instead of Covenanting with the gods of the heathen, as
+many in early times did, men, in every age, should make that
+acknowledgment of himself which entering into covenant with him
+essentially implies; and is obeyed when, like Joshua and all Israel
+Covenanting at Shechem, they choose the Lord to serve him.[195] In the
+second commandment is implied an injunction to serve God. The fact that
+vowing and swearing to God are a part of his service is manifest, as we
+have seen from sundry passages of Scripture. Consistent, therefore, with
+the commands implied in these portions of the Sacred Volume, but
+distinct from them, is the injunction embodied in this precept, that
+men enter into covenant with him; and the performance of every
+part of that service, as exhibited throughout the whole of Divine
+revelation, according to circumstances, it enjoins. The third
+commandment--forbidding the irreverent use of God's name, and
+threatening those who take it in vain, authoritatively inculcates the
+holy use of it in Covenanting. There is no passage of Scripture in which
+it is said or implied, that to vow or swear, in every case is to take
+God's name in vain. The saints, in calling upon his name, have vowed and
+sworn to him. In commands to call upon his name, swearing by him is not
+forbidden. The oath and vow, therefore, in calling upon him, may be made
+lawfully; the abuse of them only in this precept is condemned, and the
+use of them receives the highest sanction from this.
+
+It is enjoined in statutes of perpetual moral obligation, that
+illustrate the ten precepts of the law. These statutes are,
+
+Commands to glorify God. God is glorified when the perfections of his
+nature, and his execution of his purposes in the works of creation and
+providence, are celebrated. The Scriptures contain the most abundant and
+full representations of the excellence of his character and
+administration, and the confession of which, in an adoring frame of
+mind, is glorifying to him. Obeying the precept, "give unto the Lord the
+glory due unto his name, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,"
+his saints have this said of them,--"In his temple doth every one speak
+of his glory." If every spiritual act of worship is glorifying to God,
+then all of them are glorifying to him also; and Covenanting with him,
+including them all, is not less glorifying to his name; and if the
+exercises of vowing and swearing to him are glorifying, certainly when
+he commands that his name be glorified, these are not excluded. Does
+the Lord claim the subjection of every capacity of man? Does he
+command,--"Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
+glory of God?"[196] Does he say to his people, as well as to his
+Anointed, "Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified"?
+Has he appointed that the heavens should declare his glory; and that the
+earth should be filled with the knowledge thereof? And when he commands
+that his most gifted creatures on earth,--whom he has formed for the
+purpose of displaying most widely that glory, do proclaim it, does he
+not call upon them to do so in those exercises of avouching him to be
+their God, and pledging themselves to his service, in which all their
+spiritual capacities are most devoutly engaged, and all the institutions
+of his grace by being used are most honoured? The people of God
+accordingly interpret in this manner these commands. Was it said,--"Ye
+that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him;
+and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel?" In obedience to the
+requirement which the Psalmist as an instrument was employed to declare
+in these terms, did he make the vow,--"My praise shall be of thee in the
+great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him."[197]
+
+Commands to worship God. Religious homage was paid with the bowing of
+the head, the inclining of the body, or the bending of the knee. The
+term (שחה), employed to designate the act of one offering
+worship, means literally, _to bow himself down_. The position was a
+token of the intentness of the mind; and those terms that pointed that
+out, came accordingly to have a spiritual application. When therefore it
+is said,--"Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear," we
+are taught that the act of swearing to God should be performed, not
+always in kneeling, but in that religious frame of mind which is
+indicated by the bowing of the knee, but which, in some circumstances,
+was also denoted by the worshipper bowing the head, or falling down in
+deep prostration. And as the act of bowing before the Lord sometimes
+accompanied and indicated the exercise of swearing by his name; so when
+attention to his worship is urged by his authority, no part of religious
+duty is uninculcated, but, like every service thereof in its due season,
+that of Covenanting with him in times suited to its performance, is
+enjoined.
+
+Commands enjoining faith. In every variety of circumstances is the duty
+of believing on God incumbent. Without faith it is impossible to please
+him. In every general command to exercise that grace, we are warranted
+to read an injunction laid upon us--in every part of obedience to act
+under its influence. Vowing and swearing to God cannot be properly
+performed without faith; and when faith is commanded without special
+reference to some duties, it is inculcated with respect to all, and
+therefore regarding Covenanting. How would the believer be straitened
+were he uncertain of the circumstances in which a command to look unto
+God with confidence should be obeyed! And how comforting to his heart is
+the sound conclusion of his understanding, that every encouragement to
+cherish confidence as well as hope in God, and love to him, when
+circumstances are not named, is available to him in situations of every
+character! His soul, therefore, can, to the extent of its happy
+experience of advantage from cherishing such a conviction, answer, to
+the glory of God, his appeal,--"Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a
+land of darkness?"[198]
+
+Commands forbidding federal transactions with what is evil. The
+Israelites were forbidden to enter into treaty with the Canaanites or
+their gods. "Thou shalt make no Covenant with them, nor with their
+gods." And the reason was, that, had they done so, they would have
+fallen from the service of God as a people who regarded not his
+Covenant. "They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin
+against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare,
+unto thee."[199] Joshua and the princes of Israel did not violate the
+statutes that were of this description, when they made a league with the
+Gibeonites. To whatever extent the Israelites may have sinned by
+believing the false reports that were made to them, and acting
+precipitately in the whole matter, and however culpable might have been
+the conduct of these Hivites in making an imposing misrepresentation of
+their case, the compact entered into was valid:--the Lord himself, long
+afterwards, punished for the violation of it. The Covenant that was made
+did not provide for, nor countenance the worship of the gods of Canaan,
+but brought the supplicating people into a state of subjection to the
+nation of Israel that was inconsistent with the maintenance of idolatry,
+yea, which appears to have resulted in their employment, under the name
+of Nethinims, though in a subordinate capacity, about the sanctuary and
+the temple. These had misapprehended the nature of the statute
+forbidding alliance with the heathen, by supposing that it forbade a
+compact even on terms of submission to the ordinances of God. Their
+punishment was, that they should stand in a state of great subjection;
+through the mercy of God, however, it would appear to have terminated in
+good. But again, at a later period of their history, the people of
+Israel were thus warned, "Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom
+this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be
+afraid." And to show that disobedience to this command would have led
+away from the exercise of avouching the Lord himself as a Covenant God,
+it is added, "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your
+fear, and let him be your dread." The spirit of these commands has
+descended to New Testament times. "Be ye not unequally yoked together
+with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
+unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what
+concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth
+with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?"
+The reason why the sacred writer here dissuades from associations with
+the heathen, is evidently, that their worship was idolatrous, and
+calculated to lead from obedience to God. And treaties, of whatever kind
+with the enemies of God, that are condemned, are to be shunned as a
+snare to the soul. Wherever they are forbidden, there is implied an
+exhibition of the duty of adhering to His service; and even
+independently of abundant evidence otherwise, that they include express
+mandates to observe the exercise of vowing and swearing to Him, is
+substantiated in the beautiful language of the Apostle used in
+confirmation of his declaration on this subject.--"For ye are the temple
+of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in
+them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore,
+come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
+not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto
+you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
+Almighty."[200]
+
+Commands, enjoining the vowing of the vow. There is only one passage in
+Scripture in which the vow is commanded in the most explicit form; but
+along with others, in which precepts, inculcating the exercise, are
+implied, that one is sufficient as a rule to guide our practice. That
+passage,--"Vow, and pray unto the Lord your God," which commanded
+obedience under a former dispensation, no less commands it now. As there
+is no evidence in Scripture that the injunction has been abrogated,
+those who would proceed, as if it were, would act an unwise part. Though
+the things vowed, in some cases, under the present economy, may differ
+from those vowed under the preceding, no such change has been produced
+on the circumstances of men by the transition from the one to the other,
+as could render the vow itself unnecessary or unlawful. Changes, in the
+matter of the vow, even in the first ages, were continually being
+produced in the course of Divine providence; yet the performance of it
+continued to be obligatory. The changes that have occurred in the
+circumstances of the Church of God, by the abolition of the Levitical
+typical institutes, have been no more effective than the other, in
+changing or taking away its obligation; nor will all the vicissitudes
+that can occur in the Church's condition, till the consummation of all
+things. The principles on which the vow is made, are immutable; and
+while the Church is on earth, it will continue to be obligatory. As well
+might it be said that prayer and praise, and meditation on God's word,
+which were obligatory in the earlier times, are not duties incumbent
+now, as that the vow should not be made; or that any service essentially
+spiritual, necessary for the perfection of the saints, in a former
+period, is not requisite in this; or that a dispensation, confessedly
+not less spiritual, but as, in regard to the want of many types and
+symbols, and to the more abundant effusion of the Spirit, more spiritual
+than any that had gone before, should not be favoured with the use of so
+many spiritual means of grace, as were vouchsafed under these.
+
+The two passages of Scripture that represent the exercise of vowing, as
+not obligatory in certain cases, may be explained in perfect consistency
+with the general command enjoining it. These do not imply that the
+neglect of the vow may be in general allowable; nor do they teach, that
+it may be vowed, solely, or at all, according to caprice. They
+manifestly admit that vowing is lawful in certain cases, and is
+therefore enjoined, but show, that given circumstances may be
+unfavourable to some species of the exercise. Even as the other
+religious observances are not obligatory at every season, vowing should
+not be engaged in to the exclusion of any incumbent duty. Circumstances
+might occur, in which there would be no warrant from Scripture or
+providence for making a given vow. If it be impossible to make
+performance, the engagement is not required; and hence, if made, it
+would not be valid, but involve the party to it in sin. The first of the
+passages referred to, is the following--"If thou shalt forbear to vow,
+it shall be no sin in thee."[201] The statement does not give scope to a
+disregard of the vow, but implies that the law of God does not enforce
+it where it would prove oppressive, or otherwise injurious. It does not
+in the smallest abate the claim of the law enjoining an engagement by
+vow to perform every definite duty; but teaches that it is not sinful to
+abstain from vowing in some circumstances vows that ought to be vowed in
+others. Some duties are so definite and so constantly obligatory that
+they ought to be vowed by all; others, obligatory only on some in
+certain circumstances, ought by such, in these circumstances alone, to
+be engaged to. Thus, in all times and conditions, it is dutiful for all
+to vow to keep the sabbath. It is dutiful for some to give themselves to
+the work of the ministry, and to vow to do its duties; but not dutiful
+for all. It is dutiful for the parties entering into the marriage
+covenant to vow to fulfil the obligations of that relation; but it is
+not incumbent on those who are not called in providence to enter into
+that relation, to vow to perform its duties. Under the law, some things
+were, by His express appointment, holy to the Lord. As he had an
+explicit claim upon them, these might not be devoted to him in the same
+manner as some other things were, but they behoved to be offered. Those
+other things depended on the peculiar circumstances of the people, and
+accordingly were of a changing amount, and had a great variety of
+character; but not less than the things that might be vowed according to
+circumstances, were those that were denominated, "holy to the Lord,"
+vowed to him. Israel, at Sinai, vowed to present the first-born of their
+males and their first-fruits to the Lord; and that vow they homologated
+when they Covenanted again. On such occasions they could not vow
+specific offerings to the Lord; but their engagements then made implied
+in general that they would vow to the Lord thereafter according to the
+showings of his providence. At other times the specialities of
+providence called for the explicit vows, which could not have been made
+when their circumstances were not anticipated. The vows of the people,
+on occasions of public solemn Covenanting, and also in secret, implied
+obligations to perform the duties of the various relations into which
+they might enter; but they did not embody an explicit engagement to
+perform the special duties of many of these. These public vows included,
+for example, that such of the people as should be called to the priest's
+office, should enter into the covenant of the priesthood, and keep it,
+and that such of them as had in providence a call to become a Nazarite,
+should take the requisite vow at the proper season, and thereafter
+perform it. But on the former occasions referred to, it was not
+incumbent to swear the oaths that were probably requisite on an entrance
+to the priest's office; nor was it required, nor even possible, thus to
+take the vow of the Nazarite. The priesthood were devoted to the Lord,
+and when the time appointed came, such of them as were qualified for
+their office entered upon it. The Nazarites, also, were devoted to the
+Lord, but according to a different arrangement. The priest had no
+alternative but to enter upon his office. The individual who was more
+qualified for becoming a Nazarite than to act in any other sphere, was
+no less called to enter upon his functions, than the sons of Aaron were
+to enter on theirs. The call addressed to the former was so explicit, as
+to be easily apprehensible by all; that tendered to the latter, was not
+less solemn nor emphatic, nor obligatory, though presented through a
+providence which was not so very capable of being interpreted as that
+which gave transmission to the claims laid upon the other. It is only
+when the making of the vow would be at variance with the requirements of
+duty, that forbearing to vow would be no sin. All are called to vow to
+abstain from all sin, and to perform all duty; but as providence makes
+varied provision for men in different circumstances, so in regard both
+to the absolute amount of service to God, and to the nature and the time
+of it, there ought necessarily to be a variety in the making of the vow.
+
+The second passage is, "Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than
+that thou shouldest vow and not pay."[202] The declaration does not
+bear, that if one were not inclined to pay, it would not be sinful to
+omit vowing; but means that it is sinful to make a vow falsely, and omit
+the performance of what should have been sincerely vowed. It is the
+paying of the vow--the performance of some duty, that the language is
+employed to inculcate. When the heart of any one is opposed to duty, he
+cannot vow sincerely. That he is not disposed to vow when the duty
+presents itself is his sin. And to vow falsely--else than which he could
+not do in his circumstances, would also be sin in him. He is, therefore,
+called upon, not to do a sinful act, but, in the use of means, to
+endeavour to obtain a disposition to vow with cordiality, and then to
+perform the duty. It is better for him to supplicate God to change his
+heart, than to insult him by promising to do what he is unwilling to
+perform. It is better for him not to attempt to change his own
+heart--for that he cannot do--but to pray to God to carry on a good work
+within him, and along with that, to yield himself to Him. Duties should
+be performed in a certain order; and those who transgress the
+arrangement for these laid down in the Scriptures, act culpably, as well
+as those who do not perform them at all. The statement refers to the
+order in which the duties, among which stands the exercise of vowing,
+should be performed. The observance is incumbent on an individual in a
+certain condition; but his heart is against it. Two duties at least are,
+therefore, obligatory on him then;--to seek a disposition willingly to
+vow, and then to make the vow. He would sin were he to do the latter
+without the former, or before it. Both are obligatory at the same
+instant of time, and both might possibly be performed in one moment. But
+the order of first acquiescing in the call to vow and then vowing, must
+be observed, and cannot be inverted without transgression.
+
+Commands inculcating the swearing of the oath. These are of two classes.
+First, those which in general terms explicitly enjoin it.--"Thou shalt
+fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."[203]
+"Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him
+shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name."[204] And next, that which, in
+addition, thus enjoins the manner of swearing.--"Thou shalt swear, The
+Lord liveth in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness."[205] Since the
+oath is never disconnected from a covenant with God, therefore, when it
+is enjoined, the duty of Covenanting with him in a formal manner, is
+enjoined. Every command that sanctions it, sanctions every exercise of
+Covenanting in which it is used. When the oath is commanded, Covenanting
+with God concerning things civil is commanded. When the oath is
+commanded, Covenanting with God concerning things religious is
+inculcated by his authority. Yea, the exercise concerning things both
+civil and religious, in such a case, is enjoined. Lawful oaths between
+nations, or between a people and their sovereign, bind all parties, not
+merely to one another, but also in solemn engagement to the Most High.
+Oaths taken in courts of judicature, civil or religious, and the
+marriage oath, bind the parties in like manner. The vows made on
+entering into church fellowship, which include an oath, and the explicit
+oaths which, in different ages of the Church, have been sworn in such a
+case, as well as the vows or oaths made by a minister at his ordination,
+or by a parent receiving baptism for his child, or by believers at the
+Lord's table, do, in each case, confirm a covenant with God. And oaths
+are sworn, ratifying covenants with God, made either in secret, or in a
+public, social manner. When the oath is enjoined, Covenanting is
+enjoined,--not merely concerning some duties, but in reference to
+all,--concerning not merely things civil, but also things
+religious,--concerning not merely the less, but also the
+greater,--regarding not only apart, but the whole,--regarding not merely
+some things important, but all that is so,--yea, in reference to every
+possible case, the exercise is enjoined.
+
+The duty of swearing the oath has not been abrogated, and therefore
+that of Covenanting is of perpetual obligation. With comparatively few
+exceptions, it is generally admitted that the use of the oath is lawful
+in things civil; and on the grounds on which this rests, it must be
+concluded that swearing is obligatory in those also that are religious.
+The Lord himself, in an extraordinary manner, called Abraham once and
+again, formally to enter into Covenant with him, and accordingly to
+swear; but after the resurrection--the dawn of the present
+dispensation--the Redeemer addressed Peter in terms warranting him to
+reply in the use of the oath--"Lord, thou knowest all things; thou
+knowest that I love thee."[206] In His instructions, He did not condemn
+the use of the oath on every occasion. He said, "I say unto you, Swear
+not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth;
+for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the
+great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not
+make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea;
+Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."[207] But in
+these words he does not forbid every use of the oath. The passage, along
+with another[208] of kindred import, must not be considered as
+condemnatory of swearing by the name of God in some cases; for that holy
+name is not mentioned among those things that may not be used in
+swearing; but may be viewed as reproving the practice of swearing
+irreligiously in common conversation, as well as the idolatry of
+swearing by the creature in any case, with or without the intention of
+thereby appealing to God. The oath, therefore, coeval with other
+institutes of religious worship, with them, through every age, shall
+continue to be observed. It stands enjoined among those precepts that
+are inculcated for every dispensation. Till the consummation of all
+things, the law enjoining it will not be fulfilled; nor before that
+period will it pass away; and with it the exercise of Covenanting will
+endure. In every age there will be found those who, entering into
+explicit engagements with the Lord by oath, will obey his words,--"Let
+him take hold of my strength,[209] that he may make peace with me; and
+he shall make peace with me."[210] Finally,
+
+Commands enjoining the exercise in all its parts. That such have been
+promulgated, there is distinct evidence. "He hath commanded his Covenant
+for ever." That He delivered statutes, enjoining the keeping of his
+Covenant, these words imply. One of the duties of this Covenant was
+Covenanting. "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul
+shall live; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you, even the
+sure mercies of David." They indicate, therefore, that this was
+enjoined. And of these statutes, like the foregoing, this other is
+explicit, "Be ye mindful always of his Covenant, the word which he
+commanded to a thousand generations."[211]
+
+The exercise is inculcated in threatenings of Divine judgment uttered
+against such as disregard it. In language peculiarly strong, it is said,
+"The uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not
+circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken
+my covenant." And if it was culpable and dangerous to refuse a sign of
+the Covenant, is it not peculiarly so to refuse to accede to it in
+actually taking hold upon it? Hence, neglect of the duty has been
+denounced. "The Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men
+of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back
+to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words;
+and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and
+the house of Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their
+fathers. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon
+them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry
+unto me, I will not hearken unto them."[212] Among the observances
+engaged to by Israel at Sinai, were those of vowing and swearing. But
+for disobeying the words of that Covenant, and consequently, for not
+observing the exercise of Covenanting, many were threatened with a
+curse. "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Cursed be the man that
+obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers
+in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the
+iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which
+I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God."[213]
+To show that the sin of refusing to engage in this exercise is
+corresponding to that of breaking the Covenant of God, and consistent
+with it, those who have broken their vows, and those who have not in
+vowing sought the Lord, are classed and threatened together. "I will
+also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of
+Jerusalem; and I will cut off ... them that are turned back from the
+Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for
+him."[214] The sin of refusing to Covenant, when found in the visible
+Church, is the breach of an anterior Covenant obligation to engage in
+the service, and is punishable as a breach of Covenant. And finally,
+what a powerful motive to perform the duty is afforded in the Saviour's
+denunciation,--"He that denieth me before men shall be denied before
+the angels of God!" And, it is also commanded in those denunciations
+that are uttered against such as do not perform it aright. Were it not
+lawful declarations concerning the manner of doing it would not be made.
+In the Scriptures there is no such thing as the condemnation of
+insincerity in making an evil engagement; but every such compact is
+forbidden. When, therefore, as in many passages, swearing falsely is
+denounced with a heavy curse, swearing properly is virtually enjoined,
+and consequently, there is in like manner enjoined, every species of
+Covenanting in which the oath is applicable.
+
+Personal Covenanting is commanded. Every individual, willing or
+unwilling, is a moral subject of the Mediator. On every one, therefore,
+as an individual, obedience to his law is obligatory. To every one He
+says, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
+serve." These words were indeed addressed at first to the Israelites;
+and they imply the existence of a Covenant relation between God and
+them. But they address a command to engage in Covenanting to all to whom
+they are known. On the same principle, that the application of them
+would be confined to the people of God, might every precept of the moral
+law be reckoned obligatory on believers alone. But even as the epistles
+of the inspired servants of Christ, though addressed to saints,
+commanded the attention of all who were in the churches that received
+them, and invited the regard of them as under an obligation to sustain
+in reality the character which they professed, so those precepts which
+were addressed to the Church of God in every age, not merely commanded
+obedience to the duties inculcated in them, but enjoined all to
+endeavour to attain to the character of the Covenant people to whom they
+were first delivered. The saints of God alone can render acceptable
+obedience; but all are commanded to obey. Commands enjoining
+Covenanting must be obligatory on men, in an individual, or in a social
+capacity, or in both. But they cannot be obeyed by men in an incorporate
+condition, without being obeyed by each member as an individual. The
+whole engage, only by each giving consent. If the whole society were
+reduced to one, the moral duties engaged to by the whole, ought,
+according to his circumstances, to be engaged to by that one alone. And
+as the duties frequently incumbent on a given person could not be
+explicitly engaged to by a society, so he himself is called to Covenant
+to discharge these duties; and each precept, enjoining the service in
+general, may be considered as addressing each one as an individual.
+
+Social Covenanting is commanded. The exercise is acknowledged in the
+Scriptures as a fact, and stands there uncondemned. And seeing that the
+law of God ought to be viewed as extending its authority to every
+exercise that may be performed, those commands that inculcate the
+service in general, should be interpreted as enjoining the performance
+of this. Besides, though each of these commands is delivered to all
+individually, yet many of them are addressed to men in an incorporate
+relation, and cannot be understood as enjoining duty merely upon them
+singly. Again, social duties, not less than duties of a personal
+character, are sanctioned in the Divine law, and no reason can be given
+for vowing to perform those of the latter class, that does not
+countenance the exercise of socially Covenanting to discharge those of
+the other. And, finally, this view is beautifully illustrated by the
+designation of the people of God as his "witnesses," "Ye are my
+witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen."[215]
+Their witnessing for him is a part of his service, and is therefore
+commanded. The witness testifies not unfrequently by the oath; and a
+testimony in its most general acceptation must be considered as
+accompanied by the use of it. The people of God testify for him in the
+use of the oath. It is not singly alone, but also in their social
+capacity, that they do so; nor is it merely in secret, but likewise
+before the eyes of the world. Even as the witness swears to the truth of
+his deposition; even as various witnesses by oath testify to the same
+facts observed by them; the people of God, by Covenanting, harmoniously
+testify to His precious truth in swearing by his name. To this they are
+called by his high authority; their oath sworn in their social capacity
+is prescribed by his command. But particularly,
+
+Covenanting, in an Ecclesiastical capacity, is commanded. The visible
+Church of Christ is a moral subject. The Redeemer "gives it existence,
+organises, incorporates, and purchases it,--confers upon it interesting
+properties--accomplishes important ends by it--institutes its
+ordinances--prescribes the qualification of its members--appoints,
+qualifies, and invests its office-bearers--renders its administration
+effectual, and diffuses and perpetuates it."[216] Individual churches,
+sound in the faith, having a lawful and regular ministry, and enjoying
+the ordinances of grace properly dispensed, being Sections of the true
+Church, are each accordingly subject to the Mediator; and the precepts
+prescribed to the whole, they receive as addressed to themselves. All
+the laws that enjoin the exercise of Covenanting, were delivered to the
+Church. Her members, in an individual capacity, are bound by all these.
+These laws demand, too, the obedience of the whole Church in her
+associate capacity, and consequently that of each of her Sections.
+Possessing a constitution essentially distinct from that of every other
+community, she is under peculiar obligations; and because of her
+subjection, and of the delivery of Divine statutes to her, in her proper
+character she is called to vow and swear to fulfil these. There is no
+Section of the Church but ought to attempt the service. If Sections of
+the true Church simultaneously exist in the same land, and accordingly
+be in one class of circumstances, each of these ought to renounce its
+dross and tin, and endeavouring to the utmost to maintain the Lord's
+testimony, unite with the others, in one enlarged Section of the Church,
+in displaying a banner for the whole truth, and confirm their union by
+entering into solemn Covenant engagement with the Lord. While these
+Sections, however, separately exist, not one of them, if consistent with
+its own profession, can say that the others have separately a right to
+engage in Covenanting, or in any other exercise, according to those
+views of any of these others which are a ground of difference between it
+and them, but are warranted in affirming that it is their duty to engage
+in the exercise in that way which, as to its manner, and by the nature
+and extent of its engagements, is right. What would justify each of such
+Sections of the Church in approving of every Covenant engagement of all
+the others, would not merely warrant but demand, a union in one
+ecclesiastical body among all of them, and their vows as one society
+dedicated to the Lord. And this might be extended even overall the
+earth. Though the circumstances of a Section of the Church in one land,
+might not precisely correspond with those of Sections of it elsewhere;
+though, for example, a testimony might have to be borne, principally
+against paganism in one case, against mohammedanism in another, against
+popery in a third, and so on; yet as all ought, generally, to testify
+against all error, and to maintain all truth, all might be united in
+one ecclesiastical connection. Were the churches to see eye to eye,
+there might be adopted, by solemn oath, a testimony so universal in the
+exhibition of truth, and condemnation of error, as would suit the
+exigencies of the Church in every land; and these, submitting to one
+form of government, holding the same doctrine, abiding by the same
+worship and discipline, and carrying their final appeals to one general
+council, instead of being reckoned merely sister churches, would appear
+as one church, by solemn Covenant explicitly devoted to the Lord, and
+jointly witnessing for Him. And wherever such a federal union would take
+place in some lands, what encouragement would be afforded that it would
+be extended to all! And how would the general confederation testify to a
+glorious work of reformation! And how might the whole visible society,
+though imperfect still, be expected to proceed from strength to
+strength!
+
+Societies,--such as Socinian and Popish, that hold not the truth, ought
+not to be reckoned as a part of the Church of God. Any change for good
+among such would be to their dissolution and reconstruction on
+principles which they do not now hold. They cannot be reformed, but are
+to be destroyed. Were the members of them to receive the truth, and
+jointly to cleave to it, these societies would thereby perish. Having
+become corrupt, they are under the curse entailed on those who break
+God's covenant, and not one privilege of the true Church do they enjoy.
+It is the duty of all connected with them to mourn for the sin of their
+breach of God's covenant, to give up all connection with these, to join
+themselves to the Church of Christ, and thereafter to act under
+impressions of solemn Covenant engagement to be for the Lord, and for
+none other.
+
+Covenanting in a National capacity is commanded. Nations are moral
+subjects. The Mediator is, "the Governor among the nations," "higher
+than the kings of the earth," "King of nations," "Prince of the kings of
+the earth," "King of kings, and Lord of lords." He gives nations their
+origin. Civil government is an ordinance of God, as well as an ordinance
+of man. "By me kings reign and princes decree justice: by me princes
+rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." The Providence of
+God that relates to nations is directed by the Mediator. He counteracts
+their disobedience, and causes it to be overruled for good. He punishes
+them for sin. He has made known his law for the direction of men as
+individuals; and as the rule of the conduct of subjects, of rulers in
+their official capacity, and of nations in their public collective
+capacity.[217] In the laws that enjoin the duty of Covenanting they are
+not excluded. In their public character they owe to God obedience, which
+cannot be rendered in any other. And in these laws they are called to
+pledge themselves to that obedience by entering into Covenant with Him.
+"Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the
+earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the
+Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is
+kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."
+It has been shown that Covenanting is described as a part of the service
+of God. In the words, "serve the Lord," it is therefore enjoined. To
+kiss a sovereign is to acknowledge his dominion, and submit to his
+authority. This is done in Covenanting. The command, "Kiss ye the Son,"
+therefore enjoins the service. In the passage, kings and judges of the
+earth are commanded to do this; and none without making an arbitrary
+assumption can say that they are not thus enjoined in their official
+capacity. Nor are the people under their authority, here unaddressed.
+That they are specially intended, too, appears from the
+promise,--"Blessed are all they that put their trust in him;" and
+moreover, from the language that precedes the passage.--"Ask of me, and
+I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
+parts of the earth for thy possession."[218] The threatenings appended,
+show the danger of refusing. But the same is taught besides in another
+passage. "Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise
+thee. O let the nations be glad, and sing for joy; for thou shalt judge
+the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth."[219] The
+sacred original corresponding to the first part of this portion of
+Scripture is not _wrong_ rendered here, but it might have been
+_otherwise_ rendered. The verb (in Hiphil, יודה) under the
+modification here employed, meaning literally, _to declare with the
+outstretched hand_, imports, in its most general acceptation, _to
+confess_. It is so rendered in the passage, "When thy people Israel be
+smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee,
+and shall turn again to thee, and _confess_ thy name, and pray, and make
+supplication to thee in this house: then hear thou in heaven."[220] "To
+praise," is included in the expression, "to confess." But more is
+included in the latter besides. To have translated the passage from the
+Psalms in this manner, would have been more in accordance with the
+extensive signification of the verb, and in order to unfold the full
+scope of the text had been requisite. The verse ought therefore to
+run,--"Let the people _confess_ thee, O God, let all the people
+_confess_ thee." And hence is enjoined, in the whole passage, on the
+people of Israel, and on all nations on the earth, the exercises of
+confessing sin, and praising God, and the duty of entering into Covenant
+with him with the hand extended in swearing by his name. And that the
+exercise of Covenanting is specially intended there, moreover appears
+from the end to be accomplished by the shining of God's face upon his
+people, one of the means of attaining to which is that special method of
+confessing his name. "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause
+his face to shine upon us. Selah. That thy way may be known upon earth,
+thy saving health among all nations."[221] Thus it is manifest, that
+nations in their organised capacity are called to engage in this
+service. Rulers, both in church and state, in their official capacity
+are bound to do so. The people themselves collectively are called to
+this; and laws, civil and ecclesiastical, sanctioning the exercise
+should be made, so that the contravention of the ends of the Covenant
+entered into should be condemned, and that those who would be hostile to
+the design of it, should be kept from places of power and trust, both in
+church and state. The enactment of such laws, and the carrying of them
+into effect, would not be persecution. Rulers should not compel any man
+to take the Covenant; but they should punish the man who would obstruct
+its fulfilment, as they would punish the transgressor of any civil
+statute. Being entered into by the whole nation, the Covenant would be
+eventually national: and even, as the whole nation consider every man
+bound by the laws of the nation, so they ought to consider every one,
+whether willing or unwilling, as bound by the Covenant. Were the matter
+of the Covenant against the law of God, it would not be obligatory on
+any one; and rulers would punish the frustration of it only at their
+peril. Were the matter of it right, the people would all be under
+obligation to adhere to it, both in consequence of the Divine law
+enjoining it, and also of their voluntary engagement as a people to
+perform it. The individual who would fail in attaining to any place of
+influence, because of not acceding to the stipulations of the Covenant,
+would have no more reason to complain of being persecuted, than those
+who, because of being under allegiance to a foreign hostile power, might
+in vain seek authority in the land; or than those who, manifesting by
+their breach of the laws of the land that they contemn them, in vain
+seek the protection and privileges secured to those alone who respect
+and keep them. Were a nation voluntarily to enter into such engagements
+of this nature as are lawful, the whole people would be bound by them,
+and in the eye of the law would be under obligation; nor would
+disobedience to the law enjoining the fulfilment of these, any more than
+to any other statute, be reckoned as the right of any. For any to seek
+power in the land without submitting to the obligations come under by
+such covenants, would be for them to set at defiance the law, and thus
+to take means to introduce rebellion, if not revolution. Such as would
+not cheerfully aid in carrying the scheme of the Covenant into effect,
+while aspiring at influence, would be using endeavours to obtain power
+in order to counteract its operation; and therefore should not be put in
+possession of the desired trust. Ecclesiastical authority cannot compel
+any to perform the duties of religion and morality; but it can subject
+to discipline those who neglect them, and can hinder such from
+exercising the power belonging to the office-bearers, or other members,
+of the Church. In like manner, civil rulers cannot compel men to perform
+various duties of a civil and religious character; but they can, and
+ought to, restrain those who are guilty of violating the commandments of
+the moral law that regard our duty to God, as well as those who
+transgress those that relate to the obligations of men to men; they
+ought to keep from exercising authority those who live in open
+disregard of all or any of them; and having enacted laws for the purpose
+of carrying into effect a lawful Covenant engagement with God, they
+should visit with a penalty those who break them. It remains for those
+who maintain that the magistrate should not legislate against the breach
+of some statutes in the first table of the law, to show why he is
+warranted in punishing, in any manner, the crime of perjury; and how
+some species of penalty may be attached to the refusal to swear a lawful
+oath in certain circumstances, and also to the breach of its engagement:
+while an individual who might object to engage in the exercise of
+Covenanting when invited to it in some cases, or would act in opposition
+to what a whole nation, either by themselves or by their
+representatives, properly sware to perform, might not be reckoned as
+unworthy of the valuable civil or religious privileges of the community.
+But whatever difficulties may be connected with its application, the
+truth, that men in their national capacity are by the law of God called
+to Covenant, is manifest. "Nations, as the moral subjects of Messiah the
+Prince, are under obligation to recognise his rightful authority over
+them, by swearing allegiance to him. It is the duty of a subject to
+swear allegiance to his lawful sovereign; at least he must stand
+prepared to do so when required. So is it with nations. Not only are the
+inhabitants of a nation, as occasion calls for it, to enter into sacred
+confederation with one another, in order to secure and defend their
+valued rights and privileges; but the nation, as such, through the
+medium of its authorized functionaries and by its usual forms of legal
+enactment, ought publicly to avow its attachment to the Lord Jesus
+Christ as its King and Prince, to recognise his legal authority, and to
+bind itself to his service by an oath."[222] They cast contempt on an
+ordinance of God, who do not, both in an ecclesiastical and a civil
+capacity, enter into Covenant with him. The Mediator is, at once, King
+of Zion and King of nations. The people of God are members of his
+Church, and also of civil society,--over which, as well as over the
+Church, he rules. For an individual, merely as a member of his Church,
+to acknowledge God, is to do his duty but in part. When the rulers in a
+nation as rulers, and the people as subjects, do not Covenant, they
+appear regardless of a part of character which, for the glory of God,
+they should maintain not less tenaciously than their ecclesiastical
+relations; they fail of availing themselves of the benefit of a most
+powerful system of motives to serve God, as his willing creatures, in a
+relation in which, as well as in the fellowship of the Church, they are
+called to obey him; and though they even attempt to honour him as King
+of Zion, yet, in failing to testify to the utmost of their capacities to
+his dominion, refusing to acknowledge him in this exercise as Governor
+among the nations, dishonour him in both, and tend to rob him of the
+glory which belongs to him as Head over all things to the Church, which
+is his body.
+
+Nations, whose constitutions are immoral and unscriptural, are commanded
+to perform the duty. By such are intended those which have the truth
+diffused in them, but have not had the frame-work of their civil polity
+modelled according to the law of the Mediator; and likewise those that
+may have had their constitutions in whole, or in part, based on
+scriptural principles, but who have changed them, so that to these they
+are now in opposition. Nations of this character are in an attitude of
+defiance to the power and authority of the Lord Jesus. Those who approve
+of their polity countenance what is hostile to his government, and thus
+act as his enemies. Those who swear to support them, do,--unwittingly,
+the spirit of charity would claim for many, swear to maintain what he
+has threatened to destroy. Those nations, as such, have not a _right_ to
+enter into Covenant with God; but it is their _duty_ to do so. When a
+mind, willing to reform every discovered abuse, and a resolution to
+change their whole constitutions to conformity with the will of God, are
+infused into them, they will have a right to discharge the service, and
+will be accepted in it. Those who, having the truth among them, did
+never in things civil submit to the law of Christ, and those who, in
+their political procedures, have apostatized from his service, are both
+under his rebuke;--the one for refusing to hear his voice calling them
+to acknowledge him as Lord;--the other for breaking their engagements to
+him. Both are exposed to his wrath; both on grounds of opposition to
+him--but each of the classes according to the manner and aggravations of
+its manifestation of that opposition to his authority; both are called
+to repentance, are threatened with judgment in case of continued
+disobedience, and are commanded to acknowledge the Mediator as their
+sovereign Lord, by renouncing severally their wicked constitutions,
+framing each a new civil organization, according to his law, and
+swearing allegiance to him.
+
+Nations that have not yet heard the gospel, are not guiltless for not
+Covenanting. These are regulated in part by the light of nature. Of the
+law of nature, made known at first to man, but also made known in
+revelation, they are in various degrees greatly ignorant. Seeing that in
+that law the exercise is enjoined, if any of these possess so much of
+the light of nature as may contain a command to engage in it, they will
+feel themselves in some measure urged to give obedience. In reference to
+this, as well as to any other matter inculcated upon them, their
+consciences will either approve or condemn them. None of these, however
+have adequate ideas of the Saviour; all of them are under the dominion
+of satan; and for neglecting this duty, as well as for their disregard
+of various requirements of the law besides, they will be dealt with
+according to the arrangements of Him who ruleth over all. Their sin,
+indeed, not being committed under gospel light, is not so aggravated as
+that of others; but is still displeasing in the sight of God. When the
+gospel is sent to them, the statutes that enjoin the service will
+exhibit to them their obligations; and power from on high will urge many
+to obey. They, even they that dwell in heathen nations, shall in the day
+of spiritual illumination be enabled to confess to God; and many in the
+times of reviving that shall yet come forth from the presence of the
+Lord, will thus be delivered from the wrath to be poured out on the
+heathen that know not, nor call upon his name. Should not the state of
+those who are perishing for lack of knowledge, move to sympathy for them
+those who know the obligations on men of the service of avouching God to
+be their God, and the sin and danger in which all who do not perform
+this are involved?
+
+All are commanded, and believers are encouraged to unite in various
+capacities in Covenanting. For some purposes, men may unite in this,
+though they be in different ecclesiastical communions. Scripture
+warrants for the service do not recognise the position of any section of
+the visible Church as absolutely perfect; but refer to duty to be
+performed by the people of God individually and socially. A Section of
+the visible Church Covenants because the Church of God, in her organised
+capacity, is called to do so. The Church of God, in a national capacity,
+Covenants because it is the duty of men in their civil relations to
+acknowledge Him. A Church Covenants, believing that she sees the truth
+in part, and is disposed to accede to it. So does a nation. Were it
+necessary, in order to the Church exercising the rights conferred upon
+her by her Head, that her outward state should be fashioned by men, then
+her members could not act socially for the glory of God in any other
+capacity than as standing in a public connection with that communion
+which, because of human constitution, might arrogate to itself the
+character of being alone the true Church. But while the outward state of
+the Church of God, in so far as that corresponds with his will, is from
+his hand alone, and is therefore infinitely more sacred than the work of
+any creature; and while there are certain things that cannot be
+performed by believers socially except as members of the Church in her
+constituted capacity; still, owing to the imperfections of men, some
+things that might be done by her members in any capacity, cannot be
+performed by them so efficiently in any distinct ecclesiastical standing
+as otherwise; and Covenanting, for some purposes, seems to be one of
+these. Neither is any Church nor nation perfect. Neither can accomplish
+all the good they might intend. They find that to do good is incumbent
+upon them, but that in some cases they cannot, by themselves, accomplish
+their design so efficiently as they would in union with others, who,
+seeking to promote the glory of God, contemplate the same end. They know
+that certain parts of duty, such as communicating in receiving Baptism
+or the Lord's Supper, can be performed only in a strictly ecclesiastical
+capacity, but that others can be done either by individual efforts of
+the members of the Church, or by communities of Christians associated in
+church fellowship, or on a more general principle. Hence, by engaging in
+Covenanting in the more general capacity in which those who hold the
+truth can associate, they do not disregard the Church as a constituted
+body called to duty in her organised condition, but endeavour to perform
+some duties which may be done by them in a variety of relations, but
+which may be best performed by many in a collective state. To the
+anticipation, though not to the loss, of a part of the argument
+contained in the succeeding chapter, two or three illustrations may be
+given of the principle here stated. And first, it may be remarked that
+general assemblies called not necessarily either by civil or
+ecclesiastical authority, but by general consent, for the purpose of
+arriving at unanimity of sentiment regarding the doctrines of Scripture,
+may be formed in the exercise of Covenanting. It is a ground of humility
+to each Section of the visible Church that every other, in some things,
+differs from it. Deliberation among deputations from all of these, in
+order that they may be of one mind, is therefore greatly to be desired,
+if means of arriving at harmony of sentiment be afforded in an assembly
+where truth is discussed in a becoming manner. To attend to what may be
+stated there for an important end, and to weigh it, is a duty. To state
+and maintain truth there is obligatory, and to promise and vow to do so,
+in certain circumstances, would be not merely allowable, but incumbent.
+Thus, those who are not altogether of one mind may meet to implore
+Divine illumination, in order to the investigation of truth, for the
+advancement of true religion; and together to vow and swear,
+individually or collectively, to endeavour faithfully to attain the
+object of their meeting, that the Churches may be united, not merely in
+affection, but in opinion. The sentiment is not new. It was acted on to
+effect in a memorable period of the history of the Church in Britain.
+Were there more of the spirit of Christ poured down on the Churches, it
+might be reduced to practice again. Secondly, it is presumed that Bible
+Societies should engage in Covenanting. To circulate the pure word of
+life, unaccompanied by the traditions of men, is among the noblest
+objects of Christian philanthropy. Collectively, Christians can give
+diffusion to it with an efficiency vastly beyond the sum of all their
+insulated efforts. As to the end, all such are agreed. That it is a
+duty, they are satisfied. As to the means, there can be but little if
+any variety of opinion that can greatly perplex; and as to the manner,
+information abundant and easily explicable is found in the Scriptures.
+If the duty of Covenanting is obligatory on an individual, on a church,
+or on a nation, it is incumbent on the members of a Bible Society in
+their associate capacity. "The Lord gave the word; great was the company
+(that is, _army_, and therefore sworn,) of those that published
+it."[223] And it is practicable. Prayer for success to the endeavours
+made, is habitually offered; and the praises of God are also celebrated
+on occasions when the objects of such a society are attended to and
+promoted. In order to carry into effect their design, the members come
+under mutual obligations to one another. Why should they not jointly
+come under explicitly avowed obligations to God? It is not enough that
+in their secret vows these engage to promote the spread of the word, as
+well as all other interests of the kingdom of Christ. Why should not He,
+whose are the silver and the gold,--whose are the hearts of those called
+to the high duty of giving the word diffusion,--yea, whose is that
+precious word itself,--why should not he be acknowledged by all of them
+in vowing and swearing to Him, that they shall use faithfully the means
+of attaining the high end contemplated by them, which he has put into
+their hands to be employed for him? How have not the efforts of these
+societies been accompanied by this method of recognising the Author of
+inspiration? How have not the Churches of Christ gone into this
+exercise, as called to feel and acknowledge the vast solemnity of their
+endeavours? How have the contributions of the faithful, for this end,
+been merely offered to men, but not vowed openly to God? Even the
+contributions of the Macedonian Churches, given for the poor saints at
+Jerusalem, were offered in this manner.[224] How have their
+prayers--moving heaven to pour down the Spirit to accompany the reading
+of the word, not been accompanied by the vow or oath to the Most High
+God, binding themselves to bestow with their hand the means of sending
+it that are or that may be in their power, and to continue to beseech
+Him for his blessing, until he cause the knowledge of His glory to cover
+the earth as the waters cover the sea?
+
+Would that we could add as an additional illustration a reference to all
+existing Missionary Societies, supported even by those who belong to the
+true Church of Christ; and that grounds identical with those which
+separate those Sections as ecclesiastical bodies from one another, did
+not exist to make it unwarrantable for them to associate in such a
+general missionary enterprise as has sometimes heretofore been
+conducted. It is not competent to the design of the reference that is
+here made to this subject, to show in detail how different Sections of
+the visible Church appear not to be justified in supporting in common
+missions directed by missionaries holding some scriptural views of
+various denominations, without concurring in their sentiments on church
+government and other matters. Suffice it to remark, that differences in
+regard to these things, are by no means unimportant. The principle
+adopted in the constitution of the most influential of such societies,
+that the peculiar views of no given sect, but the evangelical
+sentiments entertained by all, should be inculcated, however, is
+perhaps best fitted to promote the ends of an institution calling into
+operation such a variety of missionaries as it employs. Yet it provides
+not for diffusing the whole truth. It may perhaps be unnecessary here to
+say, that it is the desire that such an institution should be improved
+and become more and more efficient, which has led to make the foregoing
+reference to it. The end of its praiseworthy projectors and supporters
+should command the admiration of all; the piety and devotedness of its
+missionaries have attained for them in the hearts of true Christians an
+enduring place; and the success of its endeavours, by the blessing of
+God, due not to its imperfections but to its excellencies, leads to the
+hope that it and others may come to possess a character in all things
+unobjectionable. It is not beyond the reach of hope that these societies
+may, by changes occurring in the views of their members, come to possess
+each a constitution becoming increasingly more perfect; and that their
+improvement in all things, and their influence for good may greatly
+increase, must be the cordial wish and prayer of all who are
+right-hearted. Missionary Societies connected with given churches are
+not exposed to the same kind of objection as that applicable to the
+others. Though each Section of the Church may not acquiesce in the means
+employed by any other, they may view those of every other as
+conscientiously, though not unobjectionably, giving diffusion to the
+views of the truth which those entertain. And what is wanting in such is
+principally the rectification of their views: their endeavours are
+harmonious and consistent. But to proceed. Were Missionary Societies,
+contemplating the exalted end of evangelising the heathen, to employ
+warranted means for accomplishing their purpose, they, as well as other
+societies, ought by Covenanting to engage to the use of these. Such
+societies would present each a decided community of Christians banded
+together for a purpose worthy the most sacred devotedness of all the
+noble energies of man. Will not the people of God yet come forward to
+send the glad tidings of salvation to the ends of the earth, by not
+merely promising to one another and praying to the Lord, but in
+Covenanting with Him, swearing by his name? What prosperity might be
+expected to accompany missions, were such a course to be followed? How
+can the utmost success be expected to follow a partial use of the means
+of Divine grace? God will not fully mark with his blessing a system of
+means which is defective. All the institutions of religion ought to be
+acknowledged. Covenanting with Him will draw down His blessing on
+missionary institutions, because it is, not meritorious, but sanctioned
+by his authority. And it may not be too much to affirm, that the
+prosperity of these will be in some measure proportionate to the spirit
+of that exercise that may be infused into them. How is so much justly
+expected from the prayers of saints on behalf of missions, and
+apparently so little from solemn Covenant engagements that might be made
+at least once, or occasionally, to carry them into effect? Do not men do
+but a part of their duty when they promise to one another, but do not
+Covenant with God? Is it not He who in His word unfolded the missionary
+chart, and by His own finger pointed out where they should be sent; who
+told that nations should be born at once; and the isles should wait for
+his law; and who made known, that out of Zion should go forth that law?
+"He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel,
+which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to
+their children; that the generation to come might know them, even the
+children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to
+their children."[225] And as to his people Israel, engaged by Covenant
+to obey him, he thus spake: He says to his servants, Covenanted to his
+service, "Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord; praise
+the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time
+forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun, unto the going down
+of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised."[226] An elegant and
+powerful writer, in a work on Missions, wherein, among other important
+collateral duties, entire consecration to the missionary enterprise is
+urged by the highest motives, remarks regarding the work in reference to
+Missions, that would seem to have been allotted to the Christian
+communities in Britain,--"But Christianity had marked the island for its
+own. And although its lofty purposes are yet far from being worked out
+on us, from that eventful moment to the present, the various parts of
+the social system have been rising together."[227] And in responding to
+this, may it not be asked, Has there not been, on the part of the
+Churches in these lands and elsewhere, as to kindred objects of
+Christian exertion, especially to the missionary enterprise, an
+injurious want of solemn Covenant devotedness? Could resolutions to
+prosecute this be embodied so well as in a solemn Covenant engagement
+with God? In this manner might there not be made arrangements regarding
+missions, more solemn than has heretofore been attempted? To many causes
+may the comparative smallness of success that has attended these be
+attributed. But it is little less than certain, that it is on account of
+the want of that resolute heroic Christian spirit which Covenanting
+calls forth and embraces, that our missionaries are not even now
+diffused over all the earth, and our nation is not, by a reflex hallowed
+influence, throughout all its extent, as the garden of the Lord.
+
+Hence, in conclusion,
+
+None may be excused for not engaging in Covenanting. Those who perform
+the duty in secret, are called to discharge it on some occasions in
+public. To vow in secret, is but partially to do duty. Secret prayer is
+not a sufficient substitute for that which is public. The doing of duty
+to our neighbour and to ourselves, cannot be reckoned as the fulfilment
+of our obligations to God. And vowing to Him in an individual capacity,
+will not be accepted for vowing and swearing to Him in a public
+associate character. Again, those who vow neither in secret nor in
+public, are called to do both. Is it urged, that it is a dreadful thing
+by the vow or oath to come under obligations that might not be
+fulfilled? It is answered, Is it a fearful thing to do what God
+commands? What ought to be vowed ought to be fulfilled, whether vowed or
+not; and if duty be vowed falsely, or not vowed at all, sin is
+committed. Is it not a dreadful thing, by refusing to do this duty, to
+rebel against Him who said, "Vow and pay unto the Lord your God?" He is
+guilty and degraded who breaks an oath; but low indeed is the moral
+state of him who, lest he should not perform his obligation, refuses to
+swear. And how wretched is the condition of those who will neither vow
+nor swear, lest they might, as they certainly would, be thereby bound to
+duty! The swearing of an oath is a solemn act. To disregard it, whether
+by refusing to take it when called to it, or by not performing it when
+lawfully taken, is highly criminal and dangerous. The doom of the
+impenitent and Covenant breaker is awful; but those who do not, in one
+way or other, truly vow to God, have no hope. Refraining from vowing to
+him, man sustains a character no higher than the wicked who restrain
+prayer before God. It is not the right of any one, according to his
+pleasure, to abstain from entering into Covenant with God. It is a duty
+to obey God's law; Covenanting is one of the duties of that law; it is
+therefore a duty to engage in its performance. No man has a right to
+refuse to do so. It is our duty to serve God. It is our duty to promise
+to serve him. In certain cases, it is our duty to vow and swear to serve
+him. What it is our duty to do, it is our duty to engage by Covenant
+with Him to do. If men neither serve God nor vow to serve him, they are
+chargeable with two classes of sins;--that of disregarding the duty of
+Covenanting with God,--and that of refusing to perform duties, one of
+which is the performance of that exercise. If men vow to serve God, but
+do it not, they greatly sin; being chargeable with an omission of duty,
+in one case at least, they have rebelled. If they do not vow to serve
+God, whatever may be the nature of their obedience, that, by being
+deficient as to Covenanting, is imperfect. To hope to be more safe from
+condemnation by not vowing than by vowing, is to cherish a love to sin,
+and to betray the workings of a heart which regards not how God may be
+dishonoured, provided the sinner can escape with impunity. They who vow
+and swear falsely, or who perform not their oath, are exposed to an
+appalling curse; but dreadful also is the condemnation that hangs over
+those who vow not, because they do not desire to pay. All who love the
+Lord, desire to show to the utmost that they delight to honour him. In
+order to direct and encourage them to do so, he has vouchsafed the
+institutions of his house; and among them, the exercise of Covenanting,
+as enjoined on all by his high authority, and engaging the observance of
+his people, stands acknowledged an Ordinance of God.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[171] Ps. cxi. 9.
+
+[172] Ps. xcv. 3, 6, 7.
+
+[173] Deut. x. 14, 17, 20.
+
+[174] Ps. xiv. 10, 11.
+
+[175] Mat. x. 32, 33. See also v. 25.
+
+[176] Rom. iv. 9, 10, 11.
+
+[177] 1 Chron. xvi. 13.
+
+[178] 2 Cor. viii. 5.
+
+[179] 1 Thess. i. 9.
+
+[180] Ps. cxvi. 16.
+
+[181] Rev. xvii. 14.
+
+[182] Isa. lv. 3, 4.
+
+[183] Ps. v. 2.
+
+[184] 1 Chron. xxix. 24. Literally, _gave the hand under_.
+
+[185] Jer. vii. 23.
+
+[186] Ps. xxxi. 14.
+
+[187] Exod. iii. 12.
+
+[188] 2 Chron. xxx. 8.
+
+[189] Rom, xii. 1.
+
+[190] Rev. xv. 3.
+
+[191] Col. i. 18.
+
+[192] Mat. xiii. 8-10.
+
+[193] Ezek. xxxvii. 22.
+
+[194] Ezek. xxxvii. 25.
+
+[195] Jos. xxiv. 14-23.
+
+[196] 1 Cor. x. 31.
+
+[197] Ps. xxii. 23-25.
+
+[198] Jer. ii. 31.
+
+[199] Exod. xxiii. 33.
+
+[200] 2 Cor. vi. 14-18.
+
+[201] Deut. xxiii. 22.
+
+[202] Eccles. v. 5.
+
+[203] Deut. vi. 13.
+
+[204] Deut. x. 20.
+
+[205] Jer. iv. 2.
+
+[206] John xxi. 17.
+
+[207] Mat. v. 34-37.
+
+[208] Mat. xxiii. 18-22.
+
+[209] מעז, a rad. עזז, _firmus fuit_. There is a
+striking connection between the import of this word, and that of
+אל,--that name of God, which literally means _robur_,
+strength, and from which comes אלה, _an oath_.
+
+[210] Is. xxvii. 5.
+
+[211] 1 Chron. xvi. 15.
+
+[212] Jer. xi. 9-11.
+
+[213] Jer. xi. 3, 4.
+
+[214] Zeph. i. 4, 6.
+
+[215] Is. xliii. 10.
+
+[216] See the Rev. Dr. William Symington, on "The Mediatorial Dominion
+of Jesus Christ," chap. vii.--a work of acknowledged high merit, which
+cannot, at any time, be too extensively known.
+
+[217] "Med. Dom." chap. viii.
+
+[218] Ps. ii. 10-12. 8.
+
+[219] Ps. lxvii. 3, 4.
+
+[220] 1 Kings viii. 33, 34.
+
+[221] Ps. lxvii. 1, 2.
+
+[222] "Med. Dom.," second edition, pp. 294, 295.
+
+[223] Ps. lxviii. 11. See margin.
+
+[224] 2 Cor. viii. 1-5.
+
+[225] Ps. lxxviii. 5, 6.
+
+[226] Ps. cxiii. 1-3.
+
+[227] "Great Commission," p. 193.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+COVENANT DUTIES.
+
+
+It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in
+suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting.
+The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in
+the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant
+include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled
+by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on
+man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the
+law are all made in the revelation of the Covenant. It was unlawful for
+the Israelites to make a Covenant, either with the gods of the heathen,
+or for the purpose of rendering to them any service. In like manner, it
+is still unlawful for any one to make a Covenant either with or for what
+is evil, in such a manner as to give it countenance or support. Of two
+words in the Greek language, employed each to denote a Covenant, the one
+is applied to the cases where the parties are in some respects on a
+level. The other (διαθηχη) is used where the parties are
+represented as in the relations of superiors and inferiors. Its
+etymology points out that the conditions of the Covenant were dictated
+in some manner; and the use of it shows, that to have been as the
+issuing of a command. By it is the principal term for Covenant in the
+Old Testament rendered by the Seventy. One example may suffice:--"Will
+he make a Covenant (ברית, διαθηχηυ) with thee?
+wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?"[228] The book of the
+Covenant of God, was the book of the law. The curses of the Covenant
+were written in the book of the law.[229] In that book, too, the
+promises of the Covenant were contained. The statutes and Covenant of
+God are conjoined, and both are commanded;--the one that they might be
+obeyed, the other, that it might be taken hold upon, and that its duties
+contained in those statutes might be observed. "Wherefore the Lord said
+unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept
+my Covenant, and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely
+rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant."[230] And
+that which is made known as the everlasting Covenant, is given as a law.
+"He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded
+to a thousand generations: which covenant he made with Abraham, and his
+oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to
+Israel for an everlasting covenant."[231]
+
+Covenanting, whether Personal or Social, ought to embrace present and
+permanent duty. The Ten Commandments are of perpetual obligation on all;
+and so is every moral precept included in them. And not less than these,
+is every positive statute which is applicable to this last dispensation.
+But the words of the Covenant of Grace were written on the tables of the
+Covenant. "And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the
+ten commandments."[232] Hence, every Divine statute, obligatory on men,
+being in accordance with the decalogue, or forming a part of it, every
+duty that can be performed, whether at present or afterwards, is
+incumbent, and ought to be engaged to as a Covenant duty. Certain
+observances, not merely because they were signs of the Covenant of God,
+but were also duties of it, were denominated a covenant; and their
+continuance during an appointed term, was enjoined. And if circumcision
+and the seventh-day sabbath being thus denominated, and commanded for
+specified periods, were duties of the Covenant, ought not all services,
+decreed by Divine authority, even as they were, not merely to be
+performed because enjoined in the Divine law, but also to be preceded by
+solemn Covenant engagement to discharge them aright? In reference, not
+merely to one statute of the Divine law, but likewise to each, is
+uttered, therefore, to all in the Church of God, the command which, with
+respect to the keeping of the second commandment, was delivered to
+Israel--"Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the
+Lord your God, which he made with you."[233] And in remembering that the
+saints vow and endeavour constantly to keep all these commands, thus the
+Psalmist vowed, "So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and
+ever."[234] And thus the people of God, as a nation of kings and
+priests, chosen, and called, and consecrated, to his service, have the
+covenant of an everlasting priesthood.
+
+All that God requires of man, is commanded as the keeping of his
+Covenant. There is no statute of inspiration concerning faith or
+practice, which might not, in innumerable ways, be shown to be included
+in its appointments. All the exhibitions of Divine truth, are
+representations of the provisions and duties of it. And however they may
+be described in the sacred volume, the statutes ordained for the
+regulation of the conduct of men, embody completely its demands. To
+unfold the dictates of the Divine law, is to present the claims of that
+covenant; and to endeavour to obey those dictates, is to use means to
+satisfy these claims.
+
+I. A covenant with God ought to engage all to duties to each one's
+self. The Divine law inculcates upon men, not selfishness, but love to
+themselves. The evils forbidden therein none should perpetrate, either
+on others or on himself. The good to all that is there represented as
+due, ought to be done not less to the individual who obeys, than to
+others. In the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," it
+is implied that men ought to love themselves. Calculated to show at once
+the duty of all, and the practice of those who fear God, is the
+declaration, "No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and
+cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church."[235] Those who do not make
+use of all the means which God has appointed for promoting the true
+happiness of all individually, do not love themselves. Aware of this,
+the believer, entering into a Covenant engagement with God, vows to
+perform to himself the duties which correspond to his condition. These
+are,
+
+The cultivation of personal religion. Vowing and swearing to God in
+secret are a part of this. That, and the other observances of it, are
+incumbent, and behove to be kept; and as they ought to be regarded, they
+ought to be promised in covenant. "I will call upon the Lord, who is
+worthy to be praised."[236] Self-examination should be Covenanted. Not
+less was it obligatory to vow that duty than to exhort to the
+performance of it in these terms, "Let us search and try our ways, and
+turn again to the Lord."[237] Religious meditation should be vowed. "I
+will meditate also of all thy work."[238] "I will meditate in thy
+precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy
+statutes: I will not forget thy word."[239] So should prayer. "As for
+me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and
+morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud; and he shall hear my
+voice."[240] So also should godly fear. "At midnight I will rise to give
+thanks unto thee, because of thy righteous judgments. I am a companion
+of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts."[241]
+And the glad offering of praise should be vowed. "I will extol thee, my
+God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will
+I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever."[242] In one
+word, to the whole worship of God the soul that clings to His Covenant
+will cordially bind itself in his dread presence. "As for me, I will
+come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy; and in thy fear will
+I worship toward thy holy temple."[243] "I will praise thee with my
+whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will
+worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy
+loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word
+above all thy name."[244]
+
+Sobriety and temperance. These are to be distinguished from austerities
+devised by men, and are commanded in the Scriptures. They are maintained
+when this world is used so as not to be abused;[245] and are cherished
+when the causes of sin are altogether avoided, and its occasions are
+shunned to the utmost limit compatible with duty. Along with other
+excellencies of character, they are inculcated in the command, "Ye shall
+be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." The force of habit alone is
+insufficient to keep them, at all times, safe from invasion; much less
+is the momentary tumultuous resolution to resume these, that may be made
+by those who have suffered by falling from them. Divine grace alone can
+enable to adhere to them in an acceptable manner. To be distinguished by
+them is not beneath the resolution of the most free from the corruptions
+of the world. In order to be observed, they must be vowed. Thus, the
+sin that doth most easily beset is to be laid aside; thus, the purity of
+heart and life that adorns the Christian is to be assumed. "Let not sin
+therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
+thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
+unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from
+the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
+God."[246]
+
+The cultivation of the various powers of the soul. When these are
+directed to good objects, and are wisely employed, they are healthfully
+expanded, and rendered capable of enlarged application for good. It is
+the bounden duty of men, gifted with such a precious boon, to improve
+it. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of
+life." The heart, in the Scriptures, means, in addition to the bodily
+organ known by that name, the soul; the seat of the various affections;
+the understanding; the seat of the will: and it has attributed to it the
+functions of an active, voluntary intelligence, and accordingly, the
+faculty of conscience approving or reproving, as the case may be. The
+injunction, "My son, give me thine heart," claims the surrender of all
+these to God, not in an enfeebled and inactive state, but in their
+utmost; vigour; and demands the promise, by vow, that; they shall be so
+called into dutiful operation as that they may become efficient. It is
+obeyed when there are used, the words of the Psalmist's engagement, "I
+will love thee, O Lord, my strength."[247] It is bowed to where any
+other like noble application of the intellectual or moral faculties is
+vowed; and is honoured when that purity of heart, which cannot be
+attained to without the direction of the exercises thereof to God, is
+aspired at in the act of drawing nigh unto him in Covenanting. "Draw
+nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
+sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded."[248]
+
+The proper application of every capacity. Each is given that it may be
+employed. The gift demands the voluntary use of it for the end intended;
+and the Giver requires that the gift be consecrated to him. By setting
+every attainment, whether natural or acquired, apart to his service, all
+are called to glorify God with their bodies and spirits, which are his.
+Without making thus a resolution to serve Him by the legitimate use of
+every capacity, there cannot fail to be incurred the charge preferred
+against some who, either by neglecting the duty of vowing to God, or by
+disregarding their solemn obligations, voluntarily accepted, had sinned
+so as to have it said of them, "Their heart was not right with him,
+neither were they steadfast in his covenant."[249] The Apostle does not
+mean less than that there should not merely be an acknowledgment of
+incumbent obligations to serve God, but, by the exercise of Covenanting,
+a strengthening of engagements to duties specified, when he says,
+"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
+abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour
+is not in vain in the Lord."[250] And the Covenant engagements of those
+faithful servants who, having improved the talents committed to them by
+their Lord, were commended of him, are a pattern for all. Being
+servants, they were engaged by Covenant to obey him. That they should
+occupy till he would come, they had therefore solemnly promised. Others,
+who are denominated citizens, hated him, and sent a message after him,
+saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. These had either
+refused to Covenant to obey him, or had promised to him deceitfully.
+Their end was destruction. It was not merely because that the faithful
+servants performed the service laid upon them, but because that they had
+engaged to do it, and while others declared their resolution to rebel,
+kept their promise of fidelity, that they were ultimately approved. As
+their obedience without their engagement would have been deficient, so
+the use of every talent committed to man is insufficient without the
+exercise of vowing that use; and equally with the one is the other
+required.[251]
+
+All such vows are widely different from those restraints which have no
+higher recommendation than human authority. "Popish monastic vows of
+perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so
+far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious
+and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself."[252] The
+latter are countenanced by no class of vows lawfully made, either in Old
+Testament times or in a later period. The vows of the Nazarite were
+dutiful under the former dispensation. There is no good ground for the
+statement made in reference to that class of vows, that "they are merely
+arbitrary, prior to the making of them." Had not Providence, by the
+light of the word, with a precision not less complete than the tenor of
+any definite precept, dictated the service vowed, it had been unlawful
+to vow it, or to keep the vow. When the vows of the Nazarite were made
+lawfully, their matter was not indifferent. And even as these were
+acceptably made when duty presented itself, vows may be made with
+acceptance still, when duty by whatever means is made manifest. No more
+did there exist under the former dispensations a class of services that
+might or might not be performed, than there does under the present. And
+though there may be no evidence that the things vowed by the Nazarite
+are incumbent in these last times, yet the laws that enjoin the duties
+of vowing and paying, were not less applicable to the observances,
+which, on the mistaken ground that they were obligatory only according
+to the will of men, have been improperly denominated "indifferences,"
+than they are to every duty, however exhibited, that is obligatory now.
+If certain things which may be done by some in given circumstances, but
+not in others, may be denominated "indifferent," then those things which
+should be performed only by some in given stations in the Church or in
+civil society, may be called indifferent too. The manner of
+representation is altogether objectionable. Nothing is indifferent. Men
+may err in their sentiments concerning duty, and call some things
+indifferent either in regard to time or to matter; others not. But there
+is nothing which ought to be done, that is strictly indifferent. There
+is nothing which men ought to do merely of their own good pleasure. What
+God makes known, and that alone, should be vowed and performed.
+
+II. Covenanting should engage all to duties to society in general.
+Imperative upon all is the command, "As we have therefore opportunity,
+let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the
+household of faith."[253] The constitution of the various relations of
+human society, and the law and varied providential arrangements of the
+Most High--all require that mutual regard for the welfare of one
+another, should be cherished by all. And as those who love not their
+brother give no evidence that they love God, so they who fear Him ought
+to manifest their love to Him by using all those means, of which
+Covenanting is one, by which the utmost efficiency for good may be given
+to their resolution to serve the Lord, and to their interest in the
+prosperity of their neighbour. These duties--that ought not merely to
+be performed but vowed, are owing,
+
+First, to Families. The relations of the domestic circle are of Divine
+appointment.[254] To be mutual helpers to one another, husband and wife
+are associated by marriage; and the duties of parents to their children,
+and of these to their parents, are numerous and definite. The common
+obligation of all of them to God, behoves in vowing to Him to be
+acknowledged,--not merely as individuals, but as members of families,
+ought all to perform the duty in secret, and in a public social
+capacity. "At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all
+the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."[255] Each member
+of a family in secret ought to Covenant as a member of the family with
+God, and the whole family on warranted occasions of public solemn
+Covenanting, even though there might be no more associated in the
+service than themselves, ought to engage to duties not merely to others,
+but to themselves in their domestic capacity. The wrath of God is
+threatened on those families which, not calling on the name of God, do
+not vow to Him. "Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not,
+and upon the families that call not on thy name."[256] Noah and his
+family in their associate capacity Covenanted with God. And by their
+families did Israel in the land of Moab, taking hold upon his Covenant,
+present themselves before him.[257] In the marriage covenant husband and
+wife bind themselves in the presence of God to the duties of that
+relation. But though that engagement may not be repeated, these are
+called on suitable occasions to vow the performance of definite duties
+that may be incumbent upon them in their associate capacity. Submission
+to one another in the fear of the Lord, which is manifested in the
+service of vowing to him, is inculcated upon them. "Submitting
+yourselves to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves
+unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." "Husbands, love your wives,
+even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it."[258] And
+to support, and govern, and bring up their families in the nurture and
+admonition of the Lord, is incumbent on them, and ought to be the
+subject of solemn vows. The children of believing parents are the
+Lord's. "Children are an heritage of the Lord." They are his gift. In
+them he possesses a Covenant right. He has his eye upon them for good.
+They ought to be set apart to himself. In baptism they are dedicated to
+him; and even as the reception of any other gift of God, brings under an
+obligation not merely to improve it for his service, but also to vow to
+do so; the inheritance of children demands that solemn Covenant
+engagements in reference to them, should be habitually made to the Most
+High. The people of Israel Covenanted to obey the command,--"These words
+which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt
+teach them diligently unto thy children."[259] And the following words
+of the Psalmist, speaking the language at once of inspiration and of
+believers, must be considered both as a promise and a vow which should
+be adopted by all. "I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark
+sayings of old; which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told
+us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation
+to come, the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful
+work, that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and
+appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they
+should make them known to their children; that the generation to
+come might know them, even the children which should be born, who
+should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set
+their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his
+commandments."[260] Not less than the performance of the duties of
+parents to their children ought the obedience of children to their
+parents or guardians to be Covenanted. When the duties of the moral law
+are promised in covenant, these are vowed. The performance of the duties
+of the fifth commandment is due to parents. That and the service of
+vowing to discharge these duties all owe to God. Obedience to parents
+_in_ the Lord cannot be fully performed without the resolution to render
+it solemnly expressed to the Lord. In one word, the various duties to
+one another obligatory on members of families ought to be performed, by
+being specially Covenanted, _in_ and _to_ the Lord. "Whatsoever ye do,
+do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."[261] What a
+blessedness would reign in families, were they thus consecrated to the
+Lord! Then love in the midst of them would not be an impulse that might
+be neutralised by selfishness or any other evil propensity, but a flame
+kindled and sustained by the grace of God, and diffusing an influence
+for lasting good; fanned by every fresh breath of Divine influence drawn
+in by the soul living on the provision of God's covenant, sanctified by
+the word and prayer--including the solemn vow, intense as the flame on
+God's altar kindled from above, holy because from the Holy Spirit of
+promise, it would go out on the members of the hallowed circle, subduing
+as the power of an ever active principle, ennobling as all the gifts of
+God, and as the bond of a glorious union, that may not be broken in
+life, beyond the dissolving power of death, to survive to eternity.
+
+Secondly, to civil communities. "Honour all men,"[262] is an injunction
+imperative on all. It includes that the duties owing to all in their
+various relations, should be discharged because of God's appointment.
+Masters should honour their servants by recognising the just claims
+which these have upon them. Servants should honour their masters by
+showing that respect, and rendering that obedience, which they owe to
+them. Rulers should honour their subjects, by recognising them as the
+channel through which in the providence of God their just title to reign
+was transmitted, and by acting towards them as in possession of rights
+committed to them by the Moral Governor of the universe, which rulers
+deputed by him are bound to acknowledge and preserve entire. And nations
+are called to honour lawful civil rulers by rendering to them all that
+homage and subjection which is consistent with the dictates of the
+Divine law; and all should honour all men by vowing to perform the
+duties owing to them. If men do not vow unto God in a secret and in a
+public manner to fulfil to the various lawful civil communities with
+which they may be connected, their obligations, by reckoning those as
+unworthy of the solemn promise to God to obey them, they do not honour
+them, and thus by disobeying His command, they dishonour God. The duties
+of masters and servants to one another, are duties which each
+respectively owe to Christ. "Servants, be obedient to them that are your
+masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness
+of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers;
+but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
+with good-will, doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing
+that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of
+the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same
+things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also
+is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him."[263] And if
+one duty to Christ ought to be vowed, ought not all, and consequently
+those? A master and his servant by promises come under mutual
+obligations to one another. And seeing that God has made promises to
+men, and at the same time enjoined duties, ought not they to accept of
+these promises, and engage to perform these duties? And if at all, why
+not in special deliberate solemn Covenanting? Equally therefore, with
+every other class of duties to which men should engage, should the
+respective duties of masters and servants to one another be vowed to
+God, as obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. The duties of lawful civil
+governors and of the people under them owing by these classes
+respectively to one another ought to be vowed. They are duties to God.
+"God is the King of all the earth."[264] They are therefore included in
+the oath of allegiance which both kings and subjects ought to swear to
+Him. The people of Israel set an example in this, which should be
+imitated in these and all succeeding times. "Jehoiada made a covenant
+between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the
+Lord's people; between the king also and the people."[265] If a civil
+constitution be according to the word of God, if the rulers who carry
+its ordinance into effect be men fearing God and hating covetousness,
+and if they dispense in a righteous manner its just laws, obedience is
+due by the people, and ought to be vowed to God. "Submit yourselves to
+every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king,
+as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
+punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do
+well."[266] That cannot be done completely for the Lord's sake, which is
+not vowed to him. Whatever is done for His sake, is done in obedience to
+Him, as having required the discharge of duty and solemn engagements to
+himself to perform it. And, what kings and others in power in civil
+society ought to swear to the people, and in joining with their people
+on occasions of public Covenanting, ought to vow and swear to the Lord,
+is to rule according to the law of Christ. What was addressed to Joshua
+concerning the books written by Moses is, in reference to all the
+precepts of God's law permanently obligatory, applicable to all who
+rule. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou
+shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do
+according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy
+way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have I not
+commanded thee?"[267] And lawful civil rulers are represented as the
+ministers of God, and consequently as acting in the capacity of
+servants, voluntarily devoted to His service, not merely in their
+personal, but also in their public character. "For rulers are not a
+terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of
+the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the
+same: for he is the _minister_ of God to thee for good. But if thou do
+that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for
+he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that
+doeth evil."[268]
+
+It is the duty of the civil magistrate to legislate against all evil
+denounced in the Scriptures. He may not assume to himself the authority
+of sitting lord over the consciences of men, nor legislate where no
+human law ought to extend; but he ought to forbid all vice and impiety,
+and encourage every excellence. He should not consider himself to be
+called upon to prohibit only some practices clearly evinced to be
+sinful. He is called to interpose his authority, on behalf of civil
+society, against those who invade its just rights; but is not at at
+liberty to disregard, in his administration, what man owes to God. While
+he should enforce the observation of the duties of the second table of
+the law, he ought to inculcate the observance of those of the first. For
+the suppression of evil human laws requires penal sanctions; these
+penalties also must be regulated by the word of God; and, in inflicting
+them, the Divine will be consulted in opposition to the vague or biassed
+judgment of man. Nor must the supposed comparatively innoxious effect of
+any evil upon civil society ever lead to wink at or slightly punish it,
+if branded with the mark of Divine displeasure, and threatened with
+awful vengeance. The protection due by a civil government to the people
+under it is extensive and varied. To its care natural, and civil, and
+religious rights all belong. Besides preserving external peace and
+concord, administering justice, defending and encouraging such as are
+and do good, the civil magistrate should be found promoting the
+interests of true religion; not by dictating to the Church of God, or
+legislating in it, but by countenancing with his civil sanction all its
+ordinances, by exerting his influence in her outward support and defence
+against all external enemies, and by keeping from places of power and
+trust in the nation all hostile to her interests. He should employ his
+power on its behalf; and not on any account should the principle of
+expediency in any cases, whether of legislation or jurisprudence, be
+adopted to give scope to measures denounced in the word of God.
+
+The people, both in regard to the choice of rulers and to obedience to
+them, have important duties to perform. As to the first--between the
+character of a law and the qualifications of those who dispense it,
+there ought obviously to be an intimate correspondence. Of no law,
+however excellent, could the benefits be extended, were individuals
+either ignorant of its nature or opposed to its precepts engaged in its
+administration. While an irreligious or immoral governor would pervert
+the course of justice in the administration of laws truly excellent, he
+would be utterly incompetent to the improvement of those that might be
+defective. The acts of the best of civil governments--even those founded
+upon the statutes of Divine truth--from the very nature of society,
+require frequently to be modified. And, since the modelling and increase
+of laws, as well as their dispensation, are very much dependent upon the
+agency of rulers, how important would it be to have supreme and
+subordinate authority committed to those who, having learned from the
+source of all true wisdom, and having been rightly impressed with the
+great responsibility connected with the situation of those who, by the
+authority of God, judge between man and man, and legislate for his
+declarative glory, alone are fitted to bear rule over mankind! Every
+human system is liable to change for the better or worse. To admit then
+into the councils of a nation, or to the administration of its laws, men
+opposed to their salutary spirit, would be not merely to show no regard
+for its welfare, but to employ means for its destruction. Those who
+suppose that the votaries of false religions, and error of whatever
+kind, however liberal might be their professions, would pay respect to
+institutions favourable to truth, are ignorant of that unholy zeal with
+which the abettors of delusive systems, carry into effect their designs.
+And they who would imagine that men, uninfluenced by any moral or
+religious feeling, would promote in their administration the
+distribution of justice, are sufficiently blinded to conceive that error
+is equally with truth worthy of support, or that false systems are
+unproductive of evil. Different from the sentiments of such were those
+which dictated the advice of Jethro, delivered in critical circumstances
+to the Hebrew lawgiver. "Moreover," said that wise adviser to Moses,
+"moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as
+fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them,
+to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties,
+and rulers of tens: and let them judge the people at all seasons: and it
+shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every
+small matter they shall judge."[269] And with that advice, which from
+its adoption would appear to have been confirmed by a Divine warrant,
+harmonize the words of David, "The God of Israel said, the Rock of
+Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the
+fear of God."[270] If it is an abomination for kings to commit
+wickedness, and if the throne be established in righteousness, can that
+nation be prosperous in which the wicked walk on every side, the vilest
+men being exalted? "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with
+thee, which frameth mischief by a law?"[271] In regard to the choice of
+rulers, the duty of a people enlightened with the knowledge of Divine
+truth, is clear and plain. When the qualities demanded by the law of God
+are not possessed, no right to rule, on the footing that ancestors, in
+the providence of God, had reigned, or on any other ground, can be
+claimed. Like that of wealth, the possession of power depends solely
+upon the sovereign will of God: even just rulers, without the express
+promise of God, have no reason to expect that their power will be
+continued exclusively to their families. The distribution of the gifts
+of God is sovereign; and when because of sin, in chastisement or
+judgment, He leads to the transference of royal dignities from one house
+to another, the claims of hereditary or other privilege will be of
+little avail. On no account can a people who yield subjection to the
+King of Zion and the Lord of all, commit into the hands of men,
+unqualified by irreligion or otherwise, the reins of a government
+framed, as each ought to be, according to the standards of Divine truth.
+Although, as after the invasion of property, when sometimes time appears
+to give a right to possession, the usurpation of royal prerogatives, in
+the course of years, by a degraded and servile people, may be not merely
+submitted to, but acknowledged as lawful; yet, as the thief or the
+robber, though his heirs to the third and fourth generation may possess
+the fruits of his spoil, cannot fail to stand chargeable with crime
+before God's throne, so the ruler, whose throne is founded on iniquity,
+or ascended through cruelty or injustice, though millions applaud his
+government and confirm to his descendants the power that may be unjustly
+claimed by him, cannot, but in the eye of the Eternal, be viewed as a
+usurper. And concerning those who submit willingly to his authority, the
+Lord will say, "They set up kings, but not by me; they have made
+princes, and I knew it not."[272] Next, as to the obedience which a
+people owe to their civil rulers. The nature and extent thereof are
+defined in the word of God. To the law of God, all mankind are under
+permanent obligations; and all, in their peculiar relations, are bound
+to render obedience to those rulers who are vested with authority from
+Him. Between rulers and the people under them, the compact ought to be
+mutual and voluntary; and wherever a just title to sovereign power can
+be shown, there obedience can be claimed. For the government of mankind
+in things civil, God has been pleased to appoint the ordinance of
+magistracy; and He himself, in his providence, calls to the exercise of
+its supreme and subordinate functions. This call is addressed through
+the people, who alone possess the right to raise to power and trust over
+them those possessed of qualifications for office. When the attainments
+of those chosen to rule accord in some measure with the requirements of
+the Divine law, the power communicated is of Divine authority, and
+obedience as unto God is due by the people; but when the compact between
+the ruler and the people is opposed to the doctrines of Divine truth,
+there is no obligation upon either party. Both are chargeable with sin
+for entering into their engagements; but the people are free from their
+promised allegiance, and the ruler is destitute of authority. This we
+may say in general, without condescending upon the precise limits,
+transgressing which, power on the one hand is null and void, and
+obedience on the other is not obligatory; or, inquiring what in systems
+of government, partly good and partly evil, is essential to their
+authority. We can conceive of some civil governments as originating from
+the obscure intimations of the light of nature concerning sin and duty,
+and as under the superintendence of men possessed of qualities
+compatible with the views of those whom they rule over or govern. Here
+the compact, though very imperfect, would be mutual and consistent, and
+the duties recognised by each party completely obligatory on both. An
+increase of knowledge, however, would demand reformation; and so far as
+such would not be attempted when manifestly necessary, so far would the
+law of God be disregarded, and so far would the government be opposed to
+His authority. Kings and others in power are required, as the light of
+duty breaks in upon them, to conform their public procedure to its
+exhibitions; and the people under their dominion are called to obey. If
+reformation, however, begin not with those in possession of power,
+subjects, perceiving its necessity, are not warranted to abstain from
+attempting it. Those attempts, however, should be of such a character as
+not to endanger, unnecessarily, the peace of communities. The duty of
+rulers should be perseveringly set before them, and the minds of all
+assiduously called to reflection. And while obedience should be given to
+no unjust law, and no recognition of any unlawful institution should be
+made, the utmost care should be taken to bring all to a sense of
+obligation, so that, if possible, there might be averted the crisis when
+the voice of a people, enlightened by Divine truth, having been
+altogether disregarded, there ought to be taken the final step of
+expelling from the seat of power those who, by contemning alike the law
+of God and the sentiments of their subjects, declare themselves unworthy
+of supreme authority. But to rulers possessed of scriptural
+qualifications, cordial obedience is due. "Let every soul be subject to
+the higher powers."[273] Also, in the acknowledgment of their lawful
+authority, that their persons may be blessed, their governments may be
+established, and prosperity may distinguish their reign, prayer must be
+made to God on their behalf. "I exhort therefore, that, first of all,
+supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for
+all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead
+a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."[274] And
+whilst, agreeably to the injunction, "Honour the king," respect, far
+transcending that homage which evaporates in hacknied expressions of
+loyalty employed in reference to majesty, is due, the defence and
+support of rulers in the due exercise of their power--a support even
+extended to the making of every lawful sacrifice on behalf of the
+interests of truth and righteousness, devolves on all placed under a
+Christian government. And in order that such subjection be properly
+maintained, a salutary fear, not merely of the wrath of man, but of the
+wrath of God, and a conscientious regard to duty, must be cherished.
+"Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for
+conscience' sake."[275] When the fear of the sanction annexed to the
+transgression of any law is the only motive to obedience, that obedience
+cannot be genuine. Not merely the lower, but also the higher principles
+of our nature, must lead to that course of conduct which is estimable in
+the sight of men, and what is more important by far, acceptable to God.
+The moral being whom the fear of punishment alone would deter from doing
+evil, by threats would be equally hindered, and perhaps more so, from
+doing good. And he whom a sense of duty would not urge to right conduct,
+would not always be led to it by a view of the consequences resulting
+from doing evil. They who love the law of God will obey it, because of
+his holy will; and his authority will be recognised in the commands of
+those who rule for him, according to its manifestation, not less than in
+the express dictates of his word. All the institutions of God, and all
+the means which he has appointed for the promotion of his own glory and
+for the good of men, are dear to his people; and while they seek to
+declare the glory of God, and endeavour to promote the best interests of
+men, at once they will fear and hate to sin.
+
+The people of God, however, have not always, nay have seldom, in His
+providence, been privileged to live under civil governments, sanctioned
+by His high authority. In their unfavourable circumstances how ought
+they to conduct themselves towards those who rule over them? Ought they
+to join themselves with the people of the lands wherein they dwell, in
+supporting thrones of iniquity? or, are they to uphold the authority of
+those who rule not for God? Since the enjoyment of outward
+privileges--such as the protection of life and character, and property,
+brings under obligations, which may be acknowledged, without the
+recognition of any attribute of a government, nay even with a dissent
+from its enactments and constitution of evil, these obligations, in
+living at peace with all men, in giving scope wisely and consistently to
+every good law, and in the paying of dues lawful in themselves, they
+ought to acknowledge; even in cases where the imposts of such a
+government are so combined, as that it may be difficult or impossible to
+distinguish between what is required for lawful, and what for unlawful
+purposes, within certain limits, they will not withhold their
+contributions, but protest against the sinful uses to which the revenues
+of the nation may be put. But when, by direct contribution or otherwise,
+they are required to support or countenance measures palpably sinful, or
+to give a pledge of loyalty by oath, or otherwise, to systems immoral or
+unscriptural, accounting it better to obey God rather than men, this
+they ought at all hazards to refuse. And when privileges, ensnaring in
+their nature, and in the acceptance of which is implied an
+acknowledgment of such governments,[276] are held out to them,
+reflecting that the oaths sworn and the various other public actions
+performed by the representatives of the people, are accepted in the name
+of the one and the other, and are attributable to both, and that those
+who bear rule, are in general viewed as pledged to promote the system
+for which they act, these they ought conscientiously to
+reject;[277]--pondering the question addressed to
+Jehoshaphat,--"Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate
+the Lord?"[278] To systems of government, therefore, under which the
+unlawful authority of the rulers is homologated by the servile
+acquiescence of a majority of the people, a minority are not bound to
+yield subjection. The laws of a nation, only when accordant with the
+statutes of the Eternal, confer obligation; and no acts of men can annul
+the demands of statutes formed according to His word, and consequently
+deriving their authority from Him. When will Zion be built up if her
+children testify not against the principle of those rulers who, divided
+as to means, but united in design, assail, as it were, with axes and
+hammers the institutions of religion, like the carved work of God's
+sanctuary, and defile the same by attempting to cast them to the ground?
+Let the voice of a distinct testimony for the prerogatives of Messiah
+the Prince, be resolutely lifted up. And though it would not, nay could
+not, in many cases be faithfully uttered in the councils of a nation,
+nor amid the shouts of many who, praising civil power, and a Church so
+degraded as to act as its creature, cry out in the spirit of the men of
+Ephesus, who said, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," would for a time
+be not much heard through some portions of the land: yet by the blessing
+of God it would be the means of exhibiting the nature of true
+reformation, and, if accompanied by uprightness of deportment, would be
+productive of benefits that should be enjoyed, when the works of the
+abettors of tyranny would have for ever perished.
+
+Rulers greatly miscalculate when they reckon as obedience the apparent
+submission which without hypocrisy is given to their laws, by those who
+deny their power to legislate to be of Divine authority. That quiescence
+possesses neither of the features which together constitute an act an
+offering of genuine obedience. It proceeds neither from wrath, that is,
+from the fear of their wrath, nor from a conscientious sense of
+obligation to obey them. To do what unqualified rulers command, is one
+thing; to do that from a regard to their pretended authority may be
+another. The sentiment is wrong, that a thing may be done for wrath,
+which cannot be done for conscience' sake. The acts done under
+incompetent rulers, by those who disapprove of their claims, come from
+neither. Their observance of good laws administered by such rulers, is
+not maintained either from a dread of the power of those to inflict a
+penalty, or from an approving regard of their claims to authority, but
+proceeds from the fear of the wrath of God, and from conscience of duty
+to Him. Wicked commands cannot be obeyed at all. An act performed for
+wrath, is not lawfully done if not done for conscience' sake also; and
+no service that men do under an unlawful government should proceed from
+either of these, in reference to those in power. Such rulers act as if
+the doing of what they require were obedience to them; but, when their
+demands are lawful in themselves, the performance of them should neither
+be made nor received as obedience to them, but rendered as service to
+God: when they are unlawful, they should be wholly disregarded.
+
+The doctrine is evil, that so long as _any_ law exists, it ought to be
+obeyed. If a law be good, what it requires ought certainly to be done.
+But though rulers demand obedience to every existing law, whether it be
+good or bad, yet when they give effect to those that are bad, they are
+chargeable with crime, and the people who yield are culpable. It is
+true, that bad laws should be changed: but most erroneous, that till
+they be regularly removed they should be obeyed. "It is criminal
+voluntarily to support, _for a single hour_, laws which are immoral,
+unscriptural, and anti-christian; and an oath promising such support
+cannot but be sinful. It is a grievous error to maintain, that it is a
+duty to obey and support any law, however wicked, so long as it remains
+in the statute-book. There is a law above all the laws of men, the
+authority of which remains for ever unchangeable; and when any _human
+laws_ are in opposition to the _divine_, it is our duty to obey God
+rather than man. Laws framed by men in opposition to the will of God,
+ought to receive no countenance or support, in any form whatever, from
+the followers of the Lamb."[279] There is the same reason for
+discontinuing to obey a bad law as there is for annulling it and
+substituting for it a better. Difficulties that might arise in
+consequence of a people refusing to obey an evil law before its
+abolition, afford no reason why it should be observed till removed in
+what is termed a constitutional way, but are chargeable on those who
+made it and gave it scope.
+
+To promote the real welfare of the civil communities to which they
+belong, is the duty of all. Those who wink at the evils connected with
+them do not do so. Those who obey their unjust laws do not do so. Those
+who do not take means to reform them do not do so. Those who would seek
+to overthrow their good institutions are malignant enemies not merely of
+their country, but also of all mankind. Those who, from revenge, or
+envy, or selfishness, or any other evil principle, or all combined,
+would attempt to change their institutions, are the bane of society, and
+a curse to their race. Only those who fear God are the true friends of
+civil society. Those are called, and feel urged, in greater or less
+measure according to their attainments, to many varied duties, all of
+which tend to the one end of improving it. The diffusion of information
+regarding, the scriptural constitution of civil society, the duties of
+all ranks within it to God and to one another, the qualifications of
+rulers, and the obligation of the law of Christ in regard to all its
+concerns; the protection of its good institutions at once from the
+effects of tyranny and anarchy, whether from within or from without; the
+resistance of its laws that may be in opposition to the revealed will of
+God, and consequently to the best interests of the community; the
+reformation of its institutions that are evil, but that may be improved,
+and the destruction of those that are essentially corrupt; the adoption
+of new measures suited to the progress of the development, physical,
+intellectual, moral, and religious, of the society; and above all, the
+countenance and support of the Church of God in the enjoyment of all her
+privileges; are objects claiming the devoted attention of every one who
+has the least claim to be considered a worthy member of civil society,
+and which, from the very nature of society, according to the law of God,
+are incumbent on every one who enjoys its privileges.
+
+To classes of men of whatever kind. Every one ought to promote the
+welfare of his neighbour. "Am I my brother's keeper?" is, in every age,
+the motto only of the murderer. The wretchedness or guilt of our
+neighbour ought not to repel us from, but rather to attract us to him,
+to alleviate his sufferings, or administer admonition, or give
+direction, or encouragement, or assistance, of whatever nature. From
+those who are members of evil confederations we should not be kept back,
+but, while avoiding the means of temptation to sin, be led to urge them
+to dissociate themselves from societies that would lead them to ruin,
+and to connect with others that tend to happiness and peace and honour.
+The ignorant we ought to instruct and endeavour to reform; the
+irreligious we ought to warn, and, in a spirit of true compassion, to
+use means to turn from the error of his way; and the obstinately wicked
+we ought to mourn over, and beseech to seek unto God. "He which
+converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
+death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."[280] And our enemies we
+ought to forgive, and by kindness seek to reclaim. To the good we should
+be drawn, not merely for our own advantage, but for theirs. Their
+excellencies we ought to imitate, and to endeavour, if possible, to
+increase and render more effective; and their society, in order to the
+advancement of the interests of truth, we should cultivate. To the
+intelligent and wise we should be drawn, that we may be wise, and their
+influence for good may be reflected back to the utmost, even though in
+measure small, upon themselves; and to the religious, that, encouraged
+in prosecuting the way to the eternal inheritance, they may have, in
+increasing measure, the happiness of being accompanied and followed by
+many who will be helpers of their joy. "As we have therefore
+opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are
+of the household of faith."[281]
+
+These various duties of the members of civil society are proper matter
+of solemn Covenant engagement. That they have but little entered into
+vows on the part of many who have bound themselves to other services,
+also required, is no reason why they should not be Covenanted. That they
+are enjoined in the law of Christ, obedience to which is the keeping of
+God's Covenant, is the reason why they should be distinctly described,
+and introduced into secret and public social solemn vows.
+
+Thirdly, to the Church of Christ. These are of high importance; by the
+authority of God they are inculcated, and to the highest of all ends
+they directly tend. Not enjoined by the authority of man, even deputed
+to him from above, but by Christ himself, they bind the conscience by a
+bond that men could neither have imposed nor relaxed. They are vowed in
+Baptism, engaged to in the Lord's Supper, and ought to be the matter of
+solemn engagements of an explicit public nature. These are,--
+
+To abide by all the ordinances of Divine grace. These are the
+appointment of the Redeemer, and tend to the good of his Church. The
+relations of the members of the Church to one another, originating in
+his sovereign appointment, call them to these special duties to one
+another; and his explicit commands give definiteness to their
+obligations. To wait on these ordinances, is at once a duty to God and
+to his Church. To keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the sacraments, to hear
+and preach the gospel, to engage in the reading of the word of God, and
+in praise and prayer, to make and keep secret and social vows, to
+associate with his people, and to attend to whatever observances of
+discipline he has made known, are indispensable services. "I am like a
+green olive-tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for
+ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it:
+and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints."[282]
+
+To support the ordinances of religion where they are enjoyed. The Lord
+gave to ancient Israel the institutions of his house as a trust. "Who
+are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the
+covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the
+promises."[283] And to all his people he has given the promise of a
+heart to observe his statutes for their own good, and the good of their
+children. "And they shall be my people, and I will be their God; and I
+will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever,
+for the good of them, and of their children after them."[284] Even the
+promise of outward support to the ordinances of religion, should enter
+into solemn vows. It is by the contributions of the people of God that
+these are to be continued. For offering to Him the lame and the blind,
+the Lord was displeased with Israel; but his blessing was promised to
+those who devoted liberally of their substance to Him. "Will a man rob
+God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In
+tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me,
+even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
+that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith
+the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and
+pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive
+it."[285]
+
+To maintain the rights and privileges of the Church. These are a part of
+the charge committed to her by her Head; but they are also an
+inheritance which her members are bound by their relation to her to
+preserve and transmit. Against two classes of enemies, in particular, it
+is necessary to defend these. The abettors of corrupt systems of
+religion, by weapons of every character, assail them. These claiming for
+communities that were once distinguished by the truth, but who have
+greatly, or nearly altogether relinquished it, the character of the true
+Church of God, are not scrupulous to represent societies that do hold
+the Head as not entitled to the Church's immunities; and consequently at
+once they tyrannically attempt to blind men, and to prevent them from
+uniting with those who have the light among them. Against such, as cruel
+and tyrannical usurpers who would bring the Church of God into bondage,
+and deny that her privileges are valid, those who are in her communion
+are called to testify. Prelacy and Popery are both corrupt systems,
+though not equally. Both claim for those who adhere to them the
+character of being the only members of the true Church. Both deny that
+any in societies not in communion with them, have a right to be reckoned
+the ministers of religion, or to dispense any of its ordinances. Both
+having attempted to rob the Church of Christ of her privileges, the
+latter consummates the impiety of one who sitteth in the temple of God,
+showing himself that he is God; and the former, by giving to an earthly
+monarch the place over His Church which belongs to Christ alone, being
+an accomplice in crime, approves. Against these systems, that the
+blinded who are attached to them may be delivered from their bondage,
+that the truly pious who are within them may be brought out of them, and
+that their invasions of the privileges of those who hold the truth may
+be limited, the rights of God's people behove to be held forth by
+testimony and maintained. A regard to the claims of the house of God on
+each of its members, should lead to the duty; and, in consequence of
+engagements by vow and oath, that should be performed. But next--many
+civil rulers form another class which exacts upon the privileges of the
+Church. Assuming for civil authority a supreme power over all causes,
+ecclesiastical and civil, they practically attempt to deny to the Church
+of Christ her privileges,--those rights which no mere civil society is
+competent to sustain, which the Lord himself purchased for and bestowed
+upon her, which she is bound by her allegiance to Him to keep entire and
+perpetuate, which she is destined to use for extensive good in the
+promotion of true religion, for which she is answerable to Him alone,
+which the rulers of this world--which no creature can give or take away,
+which her Lord will conserve, even to the overthrow of every
+system--whether civil or ecclesiastical, that will persevere to dispute
+them or use means to wrest them from her hands; and thus they give
+occasion to her members, in virtue of their communion with one another
+and common obligations to Christ, to testify by oath and otherwise
+against their pretensions as, rebellion against Him, and injustice and
+tyranny to the society of which He alone is the Head.
+
+To unite the various Churches of Christ. That these will be incorporated
+in millennial times, we have reason to believe. That different Churches
+have been brought into one, is matter of history. That the Lord in his
+providence has overruled outward circumstances for associating his
+people, in order that they might act for Him, is a truth worthy of
+careful consideration. On the ground that the illuminating and
+sanctifying agency of God's Spirit is altogether independent of the
+condition of men, we are forced to conclude, that many who by reason of
+the imperfections of the human heart have heretofore been but little
+disposed to make joint efforts on behalf of religion, may by means other
+than those of outward distresses, or along with these, be brought to
+co-operate, if not ultimately to incorporate, with one another, toward
+the high end contemplated in common by them. It is good to maintain
+sound views of the declarations of the word of God. It is proper to
+examine others. It is good for all to endeavour rightly to apprehend the
+sentiments of those who may differ from them in opinion concerning
+Divine truth; and necessary to exhibit such sentiments in their true
+character. It is desirable that mutual communications regarding the
+truth should be interchanged among those who desire, but are unable yet
+to see eye to eye; and to be greatly wished, that all such, in what
+measure and manner is competent to them, would strengthen each other's
+hands to give diffusion to their common views. The different communities
+of the Church should not stand in intrenchments inaccessible to each
+other. They are each a place of greater or less strength raised for
+defence, not against the others, but against a common foe. They cannot
+yet hold free communion; but various means of communication may be
+employed by them, without laying themselves open to the inroads of
+enemies. By encouraging some kinds of intercourse among themselves, they
+would not expose themselves to any assault, but secure, or rather alter
+for good, their positions. In order to the overthrow of the enemy,
+without giving him inadvertently even an inch of advantage, mutual aids
+might be communicated among them. Were proper means taken, their various
+positions, by being subjected to improvements, might ultimately come to
+be one system, within the lines of which no enemy would penetrate, and
+all whose parts acting in concert would present the reality of an
+outward Zion--emblem of that which is spiritual, fortified with walls
+and bulwarks. So long as there are even two communities of the people of
+Christ, whose sentiments regarding various things are not in harmony, so
+long is a loud call addressed to all who fear Him, to take means to lead
+to unity, and to come under common solemn obligations thus to build up,
+even as the walls of Jerusalem, the walls and bulwarks of Zion.
+
+To enlarge the Church. In the providence of God, the truth is widely
+diffused through the operation of many outward causes. According to the
+provisions of his grace, it is intended for dissemination through the
+voluntary agency of those who love it. "Enlarge the place of thy tent,
+and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not,
+lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes: for thou shalt break
+forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the
+Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for
+thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt
+not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and
+shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker
+is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the
+Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called."[286]
+
+Through Bible Societies. The fact is singular, that the operation of
+these is the first great exemplification made in the last times, as it
+is among the highest applications, of the principle of co-operation on
+the part of many for good. It shows that God in his providence, in a
+wondrous manner, leads men to do what he has enjoined in his word;
+honours his own institutions; and teaches the lesson, that in
+accordance with the facilities presented by him, should be the dutiful
+energetic endeavours of all towards the exhibition of his truth. Was it
+dutiful for fathers to teach their children the law of God? Was it
+dutiful for the priests to read it to the people of Israel assembled at
+their solemn feasts? It is dutiful for all who have the whole word of
+God, to use every lawful means in their power to make others know it.
+Was it dutiful to make use of one copy of the law for instructing the
+people, when only one could be obtained? It is dutiful so to make use of
+as many copies of the Scriptures as can be found, nay, to aid in
+producing copies of them to the utmost limits of our ability, that they
+may be sent to those who are in darkness. To the greatest extent of the
+capacities of all, it is dutiful for them to obtain and distribute
+copies of the blessed word. Every member of the Church of Christ, from
+the days of infancy to those of extreme old age, should be a member of a
+Bible Society; and, till the many millions of the human family have the
+word in their hands, that it may take possession of their hearts, it
+should be distributed. Every discovery in science, every acquisition in
+literature, every improvement or invention in art, should be devoted to
+the multiplication, in all languages, at the least possible expense, and
+accordingly to the utmost extent, of copies of the word. And all should
+give themselves to aid in the dutiful effort. Contributions of money;
+devotion of talent, and energy, and time; and prayer to God: for this,
+should all be made, and, in solemn individual and public vows, be
+offered to God.
+
+Through Missions. First, at home. The claims of countrymen perishing for
+lack of knowledge, on those who know the truth, are strong. The claims
+of the whole Church upon each of her members for devotedness to her
+interests, are the strongest that society can put forth, and when made
+on behalf of those who are united by many near ties, harmonize with the
+former. Every one should nourish and cherish his own body. The duty is
+common to an individual and to the Church of Christ. That community
+which does not improve in the region where the means of healthful
+increase are afforded, is in an unhealthy state. When a portion of the
+visible Church does not, by affording to those around it who are in a
+state of corruption the means of life, assimilate them to itself, it is
+not in vigorous action; its members sustain not the character of living
+ones; and except it be restored, its decay cannot be far distant. To
+lead the communities of the faithful to invade the ignorance and sin and
+misery that surround them, the voice of humanity, a sense of obligation
+to the calls of duty, the delightful prospect of good to many who will
+either receive or give instruction, and of glory to God by the salvation
+of sinners, do all unite. Before the appeals of these the insensibility
+and even opposition of those who are in degradation and guilt, should be
+esteemed as no ground of discouragement; but, in the spirit of
+devotedness to a great work which cannot lose its gracious reward,
+should, with resolution and prayer in consequence of solemn devotedness
+on the part of one and all, be perseveringly and patiently, though even
+painfully, encountered.
+
+Secondly, to the heathen. To use endeavours that a system which tends
+but to good be developed to the utmost, is not to manifest ambition, but
+to display the working of true benevolence. To seek the increase of the
+Church's power--essentially benignant in the world--is to aspire at what
+has been reserved for her, and to aim at what each of her members is
+under obligation to favour. Her enemies alone tend to hinder her
+advancement. The providence of God is directed to her welfare. The
+designs of satan are overruled for her good. The Lord himself watches
+over her, and leads her forth to her high destination. And ought not her
+children, by making and keeping solemn vows, to enlighten the subjects
+of darkness, to promote her prosperity? When the number of the faithful
+is increased, so is their efficiency; the enemies of truth are
+diminished and discouraged by all brought to receive it; and the
+communion of saints, by the addition of every believer, is swelled to
+the pleasing anticipation, the grateful remembrance, and substantial
+satisfaction in the enjoyment of present good, of every one therein. Who
+that loves the prosperity of Zion, does not desire to see her communion
+extended? Who that has an interest in her welfare, does not joyfully
+anticipate and pray for, and endeavour to use other means, that men may
+see the glorious things said in prophecy concerning her? Who that is a
+worthy member of her communion, does not feel himself urged, by a sense
+of obligation to her, to add to the joy of each of her faithful ones, by
+being instrumental in leading the heathen nations to the truth? How
+glorious a thing it would be to see those nations associated, by the
+strong ties of fellowship, and a common relation to one glorious Lord,
+to his other believing people! How delightful to think of the many who
+had not known God being brought to a substantial and eternal union to
+others made to enjoy his favour!--to meditate upon the heathen brought,
+through the instrumentality of men, to do homage to that Lord whom all
+his saints delight to see honoured!--to know of the heathen that had
+been given to Him for an inheritance, being taught willingly to receive
+and acknowledge him, and by special Covenanting, to give themselves away
+unto Him, taking hold upon him as given for a Covenant of the people,
+and presenting the fulfilment of the precious words, "He shall not fail
+nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the
+isles shall wait for his law."[287]
+
+Thirdly, to the Jews. Their fathers first brought the glad tidings of
+salvation to the Gentiles. The Apostles, and others of them, proclaimed
+the truth in every nation under heaven. From the ten tribes in captivity
+in the east went forth missionaries to India, and China, and to other
+nations around them. The ancient Israelites at Sinai, at Horeb, and
+elsewhere, Covenanted to afford the means of grace to those of other
+nations of the world. In the covenant made with Abraham, provision was
+made for the introduction of the stranger into the visible Church of
+God, by granting to him the privilege of circumcision. The people of
+Israel were the children of that Covenant, and recognised its
+engagements as obligatory upon them. Among them, accordingly, every
+circumcised person, not excluding the stranger, had a right to eat of
+the passover. In the decalogue, the stranger dwelling among them is
+recognised. In the covenant made at Sinai, express provisions, besides,
+were made for such. "The stranger that dwelleth with you, shall be unto
+you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself."[288] In
+that it is said to the priests, "That ye may teach the children of
+Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand
+of Moses."[289] These were therefore to teach it to the stranger also.
+In all these things Israel, by Covenanting, acquiesced, when they were
+first proposed, and also at succeeding times when the covenant of Sinai
+was renewed. The Church is therefore under a debt to their descendants
+which should be paid in kind. In order to confer upon her the honour of
+fulfilling the high obligation, her members should make and keep
+Covenant engagements to send missionaries to all the remnants of
+Israel. To her and to each other, individually, they owe it thus to use
+means to add to the communion of saints, the descendants of
+Jacob,--whose restoration will be so advantageous,--"For if the casting
+away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving
+of them be, but life from the dead?"[290] How pleasing to think of
+Israel again graffed into their own olive tree!--to reflect upon the
+fulfilment of the promise, "And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is
+written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away
+ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall
+take away their sins"![291]--and to look forward to that universal joy
+which shall be expressed, when, the fulness of the Gentiles having been
+brought in, and all Israel gathered, the kingdom shall universally be
+acknowledged to be the Lord's!
+
+III. Covenanting should engage all to duties to the Mediator as Lord of
+all. It is by God that all live, and move, and have their being; and to
+him all are called to live. "For none of us liveth to himself, and no
+man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and
+whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or
+die, we are the Lord's." To seek the Lord, and to walk after the Lord,
+are the sum of all the obedience to Him which he requires; and are the
+substance of what all are required to vow and swear to perform. "And
+they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with
+all their heart and with all their soul."[292] "And the king stood by a
+pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and
+to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with
+all their heart, and all their soul, to perform the words of this
+covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to
+the covenant."[293] These duties to God ought to be performed to Christ;
+for he hath said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in
+earth;"[294] and it is the will of God, "that all men should honour the
+Son, even as they honour the Father."[295] These duties are, it maybe
+remarked, in general,
+
+To declare the glory of God. All the duty that He requires of man is
+included in this. Every thing that occurs, independently of the will of
+moral creatures, is glorifying to God. Every evil thing is overruled for
+the manifestation of his glory. The willing services of unfallen angels
+and redeemed men, directly tend to display that glory. All that God
+requires of man, and consequently the use of all means appointed for
+glorifying his name, ought to be vowed. By commands to all; by promises,
+by invitations and encouragements, to his people; by denunciations and
+warnings addressed to his enemies; he urges men to show forth his glory.
+To vow and swear to do so is therefore obligatory upon them. The
+obligation is acknowledged in the Psalmist's vow,--"I will praise thee,
+O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for
+evermore."[296] And as a consequence of offering worship to God, and
+therefore, in some instances at least, of vowing to Him, the glorifying
+of God's name is predicted. "All nations whom thou hast made shall come
+and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."[297] But
+particularly,
+
+To maintain the truth by the profession and practice of it. Idolatry, or
+the whole of false religion and all its practical consequences, is
+represented both as a withholding from God of the glory due to him, and
+as a surrender of the truth.[298] Christ is the Truth; and accordingly
+those who receive him cleave to his truth by vow and consequent
+obedience. The Spirit of promise is the Spirit of Truth. They who, by
+Covenanting, receive him in the former character, accept of him as sent
+to lead into all truth.[299] The Lord is "a God of Truth." All who take
+him as their God accede to his truth. It is to the truth of God that
+those devoted servants, whom he denominates "_My Witnesses_," give
+testimony, in their profession, and life, and conversation. It is to his
+truth that they testify in the same manner, when they act as his
+"_Messenger_."[300] The truth of God was committed to his people in the
+_charge_ which, from time to time, they accepted in Covenanting.[301]
+The Redeemer commands that it be held fast. "Remember therefore how thou
+hast received and heard; and hold fast, and repent."[302] The Covenant
+people of God are "the righteous nation which keepeth the truth."[303]
+Each of them declares, "I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments
+have I laid before me."[304] And each adopts the vow, "I will walk in
+thy truth."[305]
+
+The truth of God's character ought to be maintained. That his name might
+be glorified, he was pleased to make himself known. That men might in
+some measure apprehend him, he revealed himself. That they might not
+forget but hold communion with him, he appointed the ordinances of his
+grace. That they might be led to celebrate his greatness, he gave them
+command and afforded them facilities to pledge themselves to his
+service. They are called to contemplate with wonder and admiration, the
+transcendent excellencies of his nature, and to speak of them with
+reverence and awe. And Himself, whose being and attributes are all
+infinite, they are created and preserved to praise and adore. The
+distinct personality of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
+the divinity of each of these glorious persons; the unity of the
+Godhead; and the essential glory of the Three-One-God; are truths
+implied in the very nature of solemn Covenant engagement; and in order
+to the keeping of these, require to be held.
+
+The truth of God's government ought to be maintained. The underived
+majesty of the Eternal; the power and authority of the Father, of the
+Son, and of the Holy Ghost, extending over all creatures from the
+beginning to everlasting; the reality and nature of God's purposes, and
+their fulfilment in creation and providence; in opposition to the
+atheist, the fatalist, the deist, the sceptic, and every other who does
+not believe in the truth of Divine revelation; are made known, and claim
+to be contended for and professed.
+
+The relations of the persons of the ever-blessed Trinity in Unity,
+confederated in the everlasting Covenant for the salvation of man,
+behove to be maintained. In the Scriptures, the Father is represented as
+having given his Son to be a propitiation for the sins of his people,
+accepted of his work, and conferred upon him a glorious reward;--as the
+God of grace, calling, justifying, adopting, sanctifying, and receiving
+to glory, his people;--the Holy Ghost is exhibited as given to the
+Redeemer, as renewing, illuminating, sanctifying, and comforting his
+elect, as a Spirit of grace and supplication, as dwelling in their
+hearts, as given to them as an earnest of the purchased possession, as
+the Comforter, the Remembrancer, the Spirit of promise;--and the
+Redeemer is presented as the great Mediator between God and men. To the
+faith of God's elect, such manifestations are made. They must be
+confessed.
+
+The mediatorial character and glory of Christ ought to be maintained.
+The revelation of Divine truth is due to Him as the great Prophet of
+his Church. He is the great High Priest of his people's profession. He
+is their King, and Head over all. The illuminating influences of the
+word and Spirit of Christ have been felt by all his people. They are
+taught in the Scriptures; they proceed from him as the great Teacher
+sent from God; they require to be proclaimed.
+
+The atonement and intercession of Christ lie at the foundation of the
+sinner's hope of acceptance and enjoyment of the favour of God. Being
+distinctly revealed, like all other doctrines of God's word, they should
+enter into a testimony for the truth.
+
+The Headship of Christ is a most important part of the truth, to which
+testimony must be borne. The Father "hath put all things under his feet,
+and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his
+body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."[306]
+
+His Headship over the Church is real in every age. In all time, however,
+by some it has been disputed. It could not be disproved, though it has
+often been disregarded. So often as the ordinances of Divine grace have
+been undervalued or misimproved; so often as men have taken upon them to
+make changes in the worship of God; so often as there have been taught
+for doctrines the commandments of men; so often as the government which
+Christ instituted in his house has not been observed; so long as the
+ordinance of discipline has been neglected or improperly administered;
+so often as rites and ceremonies in the worship of God have been added
+or modified according to the caprice of men; so often as men unqualified
+have assumed to themselves the functions of the ministering servants of
+Christ; so often as the ministers of religion have acted as lords over
+God's heritage; so often as one individual in it has sat as head of the
+Church; so often as one has sat in the temple of God showing himself
+that he was God; so often as civil rulers have stept out of their own
+sphere to legislate in the Church, to overrule the proceedings of its
+courts, to visit with restrictions, whether by pains, or penalties, or
+otherwise, those who used a lawful power and authority therein; so often
+and so long as an earthly sovereign has sat as head of any department of
+His Church; so often and so long, ignorantly or otherwise, has the
+Redeemer, as King and Head of his Church, been dishonoured. For his
+glory so set at nought, his people, in protesting against the opposition
+thereby shown to his just claim, and in maintaining all these claims,
+are called to testify by vow and oath.
+
+The Headship of Christ over the nations is taught in Divine revelation
+not less clearly than that over the Church; not less than that, it has
+been misapprehended and disputed, and often practically denied. But
+equally with the other, being true, the doctrine has stood unshaken
+amidst every assault. It is manifest from all the references of Divine
+truth to civil matters:--from its delineations of the duties of the
+civil magistrate, and of those under his authority, to Christ and to one
+another; of the qualifications of lawful civil rulers; of nations as
+called into existence by the Mediator, under his cognizance, and at his
+disposal; of the duties of nations to the Church of Christ,--to
+establish the true religion, restrain ungodliness, and otherwise aid in
+the promotion of her interests: and appears from designations
+representing Him as possessed of all power and authority over men. But,
+even as his authority over the Church, it has been set at nought by
+many. Civil constitutions not framed according to his law, nor under the
+care of those impressed with the fear of God; that give equal
+countenance to error and truth; that support delusive systems, while
+they do not encourage the spread of truth; that attempt to subordinate
+the Church to the civil power; that seek the alliance of any idolatrous
+system of religion to support their authority; that seek the continuance
+of power by attempting to bring the nations to which they belong, at the
+risk of the exterminating penalty of poverty or destitution, under the
+yoke of ignorance, to be fastened on by the educating or training of the
+young of the lower classes by the priesthood or other agents of the
+"mystery of iniquity" alone; or that seek to secure their influence by
+any means at variance with the law of Christ; are all in opposition to
+his revealed will, are unpossessed of authority from him, are the
+voluntary agents of "the Prince of the power of the air," and cannot be
+countenanced without rebellion against Him who is the Governor among the
+nations. Whosoever there may be that fear God among those who rule or
+govern in connection with such constitutions, by being connected with
+them and putting forth their claims, are not in the path of duty. The
+obligation incumbent on such, nay, on all--whether in power or not, who
+support them, is either to give up their adherence to them, or to change
+them so as to bring them up to the scriptural standard. With the
+supporters of such constitutions unamended, some who disapprove of them,
+have in some respects to co-operate. But never can any act, without sin,
+along with these, in such a manner as to recognise the claims of the
+power maintained by these constitutions, to be the ordinance of
+God.[307] Joint procedure with such can be warrantable only when
+directed to an end good in itself, and when accompanied by an expressed
+or understood disapproval of the character and authority of the civil
+power. Against such, that they may be modified for good, or succeeded by
+what is glorifying to God, a substantial testimony ought to be lifted
+up. In order to the extension of the acknowledgment of the Mediatorial
+power over all the kingdoms of the world, an exhibition of the
+prerogatives and claims upon these of the Redeemer, should explicitly be
+made in testifying for him, by a scriptural profession, and practical
+observance of his commands. And in solemn Covenanting such attestations
+required to be embodied. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I
+hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A
+froward heart shall depart from me; I will not know a wicked person.
+Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell
+with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me."[308] "I
+will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and
+ever." "I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy
+wondrous works." "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy
+saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom,
+and talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts,
+and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting
+kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations."[309]
+
+And the truth of the depravity of man and his inability to restore
+himself to God's favour ought to be maintained. The entire corruption of
+the human nature by sin, original sin, the dominion of sin in the
+unconverted, the power of sin even in the people of God, are all made
+known as by a sunbeam in the Divine word, consistent with the conduct of
+men, necessary to be admitted in order to the acceptance of the
+blessings of the great salvation, the subject of solemn confession to
+God, and a ground of humiliation in his sight. These should enter into a
+solemn profession of the truth. "I will declare mine iniquity; I will
+be sorry for my sin."[310] "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou
+me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous
+sins; let them not have dominion over me."[311]
+
+To testify against error and its consequences. Heathenism it is
+necessary to denounce according to the word of Divine truth. It is
+desirable to condemn it, as originating in the corruption of true
+religion, making progress by assimilating to itself the corruptions of
+the human heart under the influence of satan, and tending towards the
+ruin of the soul. The manner in which it is described in the sacred
+volume, and represented there as certainly to be dissipated, should be
+made known by those who come in contact with it. And the glorious truth
+of God, in contrast with it in its character and tendencies, should be
+displayed. In like manner, should infidelity--whether Jewish or Gentile,
+Mahommedanism and Socinianism on the one hand, and Popery and Prelacy on
+the other, and every other false system, be dealt with. To assault such
+by the exhibition of the truth of God, and to vow to do so, his people
+have every warrant and encouragement. They fear him, and under his
+banner as his Covenanted servants, are called to the duty. "Thou hast
+given a banner to them that feared thee, that it may be displayed
+because of the truth."[312]
+
+Hence, in conclusion,
+
+First, Covenanting should engage all to every former good attainment.
+The obligation of a permanent duty cannot be dissolved; but the
+observance of it may and ought to be vowed successively. For a reason,
+the same as, or similar to, that for which it was vowed at first, it
+may, on some occasions, be promised by vow and oath again. The Divine
+law holds every moral being bound to duty; yet it admits, nay,
+commands, the making of promises in Covenanting to do it. As the
+original command to obey, does not render the vow unnecessary, so
+neither does one vow remove the necessity for another. It is in vain to
+object, that as the vow or oath of marriage need not be repeated by the
+parties, so neither need any other. Though on account of the esteemed
+and real solemnity of that original covenant, it is not requisite that
+it should be renewed in the formal manner in which it was made at first,
+it is, nevertheless, manifest from Scripture, inculcating the use of the
+vow, that the parties may thereafter vow to God to continue to fulfil
+their first engagements. Were one duty that was formerly obligatory not
+to be engaged to in Covenanting, then might none other. Hence, only
+duties becoming incumbent at present could be vowed, and accordingly, as
+all the duties of the moral law were incumbent before, none of these
+could be vowed at all, and therefore, in no circumstances whatever,
+could the vow be made. The absurdity of the conclusion is sufficiently
+manifest. We are warranted to maintain that what was Covenanted before,
+no less than it should be performed, should be vowed again.
+"Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same
+rule, let us mind the same thing."[313]
+
+Secondly. In Covenanting, there should be made engagements to cleave to
+new correct views of truth and duty. The apprehensions of men are
+subject to continual change. Nor are those of the people of God exempted
+from this. Nay those should alter to improve. No new aspect of truth can
+any one warrantably disregard. Every increase made in the knowledge of
+God demands a corresponding acknowledgment. According to each, ought new
+vows to be made. When one enemy of his kingdom appears, vows should be
+made to resist and overthrow his influence. When many foes appear new
+vows of an appropriate kind should be entered into against them. When
+duty presents itself Covenant engagements should be made to perform it.
+With the enlargement of the field of duty, should proceed the
+enlargement of Covenant promises, in dependence on Divine aid to
+overtake it. According to the display of God's glorious goodness and
+mercy, should be the solemn engagements of his people to give it
+celebration. If one view of his glory calls to the exercise, every one
+brighter will invite to it, till both engagements and their fulfilment
+merge into eternal unbroken obedience in heaven.
+
+Thirdly. In Covenanting, there should be made engagements to abandon
+whatever evil unobserved there may be in the vow made, or whatever may
+be inconsistent with its lawful parts. A vow may sometimes be sinful,
+notwithstanding the use of the utmost care to make it in consistency
+with the calls of duty. The sinful parts are due to the imperfection of
+the individual who makes it; the lawful part alone is obligatory. The
+making of the good part of a vow ought not to be refrained from on
+account of a dread of associating with that a part that might be evil.
+Were an evil part to be introduced under the apprehension of its
+enormity, daring crime would be committed, to which we could not
+conceive of an illuminated individual being accessory. Vowed in
+ignorance even, evil involves in sin. When discovered in its true
+character, it ought to be discarded. When the vow is made, there should
+be included in it the engagement, to refrain, so soon as it is
+discovered, from performing any part of it, which, having been sinful,
+and therefore possessed of no obligation, ought not to have entered into
+it. Nothing, indeed, but a sense of propriety can hinder men from
+claiming the performance of engagements, even of an evil character,
+that are made to them. But God who commands that only what is good be
+vowed, disapproves of such a demand, as well as of the engagement on
+which it is based.
+
+Finally. Covenanting does not shackle inquiry. It is a wrong
+interpretation of the words, "It is a snare after vows to make inquiry,"
+that represents them as condemning every endeavour made, after vowing,
+to increase in knowledge, even in reference to the vow. The passage
+would seem only to designate as sinful, the practice of endeavouring to
+make inquiry, for the purpose of evading an engagement made by a vow of
+a lawful nature. Were a vow perfect, it would not need revisal, and
+would therefore be altogether independent of the increase in knowledge
+of the party under its obligation. An imperfect vow, on account of its
+imperfection, would require correction. The least discovery of
+imperfection in such, should lead to its improvement. Correct views of a
+vow, as altogether wrong, should lead to its abandonment, or a total
+reconstruction of it. To engage absolutely to perform any act, is not
+obligatory. It is only when the Lord will, that even duty can be done,
+and a vow should be made to perform it, only if he will enable.
+Moreover, it is only what he requires that should be done, whether vowed
+or not. Accordingly, a Covenant engagement, in which there is promised
+more than what is dutiful, is not lawful. In order to lead to duty
+alone, an engagement by vow should be made. It is alike foreign to the
+nature and to the end of a covenant, for those who enter into it to make
+their engagement independently of a reference to circumstances that may
+be unforeseen. Not to vow to engage in duty is evil. To vow to
+accomplish an act, whether it may be found afterwards to be sinful or
+not, is also evil. To vow to do what appears to be dutiful, instead of
+committing to a given course, independently of the light of duty that
+may break in, is rather to engage to the use of means to discover
+whether or not the performance vowed be lawful, and to the duty that may
+be obvious at the period of fulfilment, and which, in that season, ought
+to be done.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[228] Job xli. 4
+
+[229] Deut. xxix. 21.
+
+[230] 1 Kings xi. 11.
+
+[231] Ps. cv. 8-10.
+
+[232] Ex. xxxiv. 28.
+
+[233] Deut. iv. 23.
+
+[234] Ps. cxix. 44.
+
+[235] Eph. v. 29.
+
+[236] Ps. xviii. 3.
+
+[237] Lam. iii. 40.
+
+[238] Ps. lxxvii. 12.
+
+[239] Ps. cxix. 15, 16.
+
+[240] Ps. lv. 16, 17.
+
+[241] Ps. cxix. 62, 63.
+
+[242] Ps. cxlv. 1, 2.
+
+[243] Ps. v. 7.
+
+[244] Ps. cxxxviii. 1, 2.
+
+[245] 1 Cor. vii. 31.
+
+[246] Rom. vi. 12, 13.
+
+[247] Ps. xviii. 1.
+
+[248] Jas. iv. 8.
+
+[249] Ps. lxxviii. 37.
+
+[250] 1 Cor. xv. 58.
+
+[251] Luke xix. 12-27.
+
+[252] Confess. xxii. 7.
+
+[253] Gal. vi. 10.
+
+[254] Ps. lxviii. 6. Ps. cvii. 41.
+
+[255] Jer. xxxi. 1.
+
+[256] Jer. x. 25.
+
+[257] Deut. xxix. 18.
+
+[258] Eph. v. 21, 22, 25.
+
+[259] Deut. vi. 6, 7.
+
+[260] Ps. lxxviii. 2-7.
+
+[261] Col. iii. 23. See also ver. 18-21.
+
+[262] 1 Pet. ii. 17.
+
+[263] Eph. vi. 5-9.
+
+[264] Ps. xlvii. 7.
+
+[265] 2 Kings xi. 17.
+
+[266] 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14.
+
+[267] Josh. i. 8.
+
+[268] Rom. xiii. 4.
+
+[269] Exod. xviii. 21, 22.
+
+[270] 2 Sam. xxiii. 3.
+
+[271] Ps. xciv. 20.
+
+[272] Hos. viii. 4.
+
+[273] Rom. xiii. 1.
+
+[274] 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.
+
+[275] Rom. xiii. 5.
+
+[276] Such as, in the British dominions, so long as the civil
+constitution is not scripturally reformed, the use of the "Elective
+Franchise," or the office of a ruler, or legislator.
+
+[277] In order to direct attention to the duties of civil society
+favoured with the word of God, especially to the obligations of the
+members of every community existing under an immoral and unscriptural
+civil constitution, we beg leave to refer, in addition to the
+"Mediatorial Dominion," before noticed, to the "Claims of the Divine
+Government applied to the British Constitution, and the use of the
+Elective Franchise." Thomas Neilson, and Charles Zeigler, Edinburgh; and
+John Keith, and William Marshall, Glasgow--1843.--A pamphlet, the
+argument of which from Scripture is clearly and powerfully brought out;
+and the perusal of which is earnestly recommended, particularly to all
+who love the prosperity of their country, and cherish the desire that
+all ranks within it would perceive duty incumbent upon them, and be led
+to the advantages and true honour arising from performing it, especially
+in a day when civil power is put forth to cherish various ungodly
+systems, to extend the dominion, not merely of prelacy, but of popery
+under its darkest aspects, and to rob the true Church of the
+blood-bought privileges bestowed upon her by her Lord.
+
+[278] 2 Chron. xix. 2.
+
+[279] "Claims of the Divine Government," &c., p. 53.
+
+[280] Jas. v. 20.
+
+[281] Gal. vi. 10.
+
+[282] Ps. lii. 8, 9.
+
+[283] Rom. ix. 4.
+
+[284] Jer. xxxii. 38, 39.
+
+[285] Mal. iii. 8-10.
+
+[286] Is. liv. 2-5.
+
+[287] Is. xlii. 4.
+
+[288] Lev. xix. 34.
+
+[289] Lev. x. 11.
+
+[290] Rom. xi. 15.
+
+[291] Rom. xi. 26, 27.
+
+[292] 2 Chron. xv. 12.
+
+[293] 2 Kings xxiii. 3.
+
+[294] Mat. xxviii. 18.
+
+[295] John v. 23.
+
+[296] Ps. lxxxvi. 12.
+
+[297] Ps. lxxxvi. 9.
+
+[298] Rom. i. 21, 23.
+
+[299] John xvi. 13, 14.
+
+[300] Is. xlii. 19.
+
+[301] Deut. xi. 1.
+
+[302] Rev. iii. 3.
+
+[303] Is. xxvi. 2.
+
+[304] Ps. cxix. 30.
+
+[305] Ps. lxxxvi. 11.
+
+[306] Eph. i. 22, 23.
+
+[307] Appendix A.
+
+[308] Ps. ci. 3, 6.
+
+[309] Ps. cxlv. 1, 5, 10-13.
+
+[310] Ps. xxxviii. 18.
+
+[311] Ps. xix. 12, 13.
+
+[312] Ps. lx. 4.
+
+[313] Phil. iii. 16.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+COVENANTING CONFERS OBLIGATION.
+
+
+As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to
+God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in
+swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because
+of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is
+now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to
+be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of
+that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the
+duties thereby engaged to be discharged, finds the Covenanter, or the
+Covenanting community, bound by the deed itself to fulfil them; and
+thus, by the service, the party under original obligation to obey, is
+brought under one that is superadded. The Covenanting party, not as
+independent, but as under the authority of God, by means of the exercise
+binds itself to duty. He commands to vow, that men may be brought under
+additional obligation; and when they obey, he recognises them as
+voluntarily engaged, and, according to his will, additionally called to
+fulfil. "The obligation arises entirely from the act of the creatures,
+using a divine ordinance, by vowing unto God, and covenanting with him,
+whereby they bind their souls with a bond to serve the Lord."[314] It is
+wrong to imagine that the obligation comes solely from the will of those
+who vow. Were not the exercise of vowing commanded, nor the law of God
+to hold those who engage in it bound by their own act, these should not
+be under obligation. By vowing, they bind themselves, not as by
+themselves, but by the authority of God. Or, by vowing, they submit to a
+requirement of his law, in yielding obedience to which they become
+bound, not by themselves but by his authority, to perform the duties
+vowed.
+
+
+SECTION I.
+
+Personal and Social Covenanting both entail obligation on the
+Covenanting parties.
+
+First. Various general representations exhibit this. Several scriptures
+present such as _bound_. In reference to the truth that a wicked ruler
+is destitute of right to claim the allegiance of his subjects by oath,
+or in any other manner, it is asked, "Shall even he that hateth right
+govern (bind)?"[315] Reproaching his servants, Saul said to them, "All
+of you have conspired (bound yourselves) against me, and there is none
+that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of
+Jesse."[316] The Psalmist said, "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of
+thy presence, from the pride, (or rather _the binding_, that is,
+_conspiracy_,) of man."[317] And concerning an oath or vow, thus it is
+written, "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his
+soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to
+all that proceedeth out of his mouth."[318] To show how essentially the
+idea of binding is connected with that of Covenant engagement, it may be
+remarked that in the original of each of these passages, the verb
+signifying _to bind_, is different from that in the original of each of
+the others, and that all of the verbs are emphatic.[319] And what should
+be most carefully observed here, the binding spoken of in each of these
+cases is connected with the voluntary actions of the parties brought
+under obligation. Again, other scriptures point out, that in Covenanting
+men are _joined_ to the Lord. "They shall ask the way to Zion with
+their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the
+Lord, in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten."[320] They
+imply not less than that the covenants made should be adhered to. The
+same is expressed in passages, in one of which some are said to _take
+hold_ of the Lord's strength, in the other, of his covenant.[321] A
+covenant is designated as _sure_. That of Nehemiah and Israel is so
+represented.[322] And finally, those who engage in the exercise are said
+_to cleave_ to the Lord. That is represented by Moses as the design of
+the discharge of the duty. "That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and
+that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto
+him."[323] "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and
+to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name."[324] By the emblem of
+the girdle which cleaves permanently to the loins, the truth of the
+appointment of Covenanting as a means of securing devotedness to the
+Lord is taught. "For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so
+have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole
+house of Judah, saith the Lord."[325] The girdle which the prophet had
+been commanded to hide, in process of time was marred; it was profitable
+for nothing. It represented not the faithful in Israel who clave to the
+Lord, but those who, having vowed and sworn to him deceitfully,
+fulfilled not their obligations. And David said, "My soul followeth hard
+(cleaveth) after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me." It was in the
+exercises of vowing to God and fulfilling his obligations that he did
+so, for he said, "But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that
+sweareth by him shall glory."[326]
+
+Secondly. God enjoins obedience as the fulfilment of Covenant duties. He
+gives command to _do_ the words of his covenant. "Hear ye the words of
+this covenant, and do them."[327] By his authority he calls on men to
+_keep_ the words of his covenant. "Keep therefore the words of this
+covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do."[328] The
+obedience thus inculcated was not merely made known by the glorious
+Lawgiver, but acknowledged as obligatory by men. In two channels, from
+one source, its claims proceeded. First, directly through the
+promulgation of the Divine law to men; and next, through the
+acknowledgment, by Covenant engagement, of that law as holy, just, and
+good. Had obedience been claimed to the duties inculcated, as if they
+had been merely requirements of the law, they had not been spoken of as
+performed in fulfilment of Covenant engagement. Because the words of the
+Covenant are done or kept when those are performed, they are incumbent
+on account of the making of the Covenant. By submitting to the rite,
+every one that received circumcision became a debtor to do the whole
+law. And in like manner, by Covenanting, each one who vows to God
+becomes bound, by His command, to keep or do the words of his law as the
+words of his Covenant. And finally, the Lord commands that his Covenant
+be kept as a charge. That which is kept, or to be kept, is a charge.
+That his law and covenant are a charge is manifest from his words, "If
+thy children will keep my covenant, and my testimony that I shall teach
+them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore."[329]
+But his charge, or his law and covenant, as a trust, he explicitly gives
+his people commandment to keep. "Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy
+God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his
+commandments, alway."[330] "But that which ye have already, hold fast
+till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end,
+to him will I give power over the nations."[331] In such injunctions, it
+is implied that two things, or the same thing under two aspects, should
+be kept. The statutes of God are at once the commands of his law and the
+dictates of his covenant. These are kept as his law, when obeyed,
+because of his authority as righteous moral Governor of all. They are
+kept as the requirements of his covenant when recognised as not merely
+issued according to his sovereign will, but as having received the
+acquiescence of the heart, and been acceded to by solemn oath and vow.
+That the acceptance of them in Covenanting brings under obligation is
+therefore most manifest. They are permanently the Lord's charge. His law
+remains so, whether or not it be obeyed by men. It remains so when
+presented, and acceded to in its covenant form. But when it is accepted
+in vowing to God, it is so conveyed over to the believer, that at once
+he is called to keep it sacred to the Lord's service, and to stand
+chargeable in his sight for the use he makes of the precious trust. If
+he fail to draw upon the blessings promised therein, he is liable to
+rebuke; if he obey not the duties enjoined in it, he is exposed to
+chastisement. Both evils he is commanded and encouraged to avoid. That
+he may not dishonour the God of his salvation, by making little progress
+in the use of precious means of spiritual improvement, and that he may
+not be found unfaithful, he endeavours to manifest the deep-felt sense
+cherished by him of the reality of his obligation acknowledged, when he
+says, "Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they
+are the rejoicing of my heart."[332]
+
+Thirdly. The Lord commands that the vow be paid. A lawful promise to men
+binds to performance; and why not a vow to God? If the vow made, whether
+in the use of the oath implicitly or explicitly, be not paid, the truth
+will not have been spoken; and accordingly, not merely the ninth, but
+the third precept of the moral law will have been transgressed. The
+command enjoining that truth be spoken, and that forbidding that God's
+name be taken in vain, both inculcate, therefore, the fulfilment of the
+vow. But various explicit statutes enjoin the same. Such are
+these--"Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God."[333] "When thou vowest a
+vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay
+that which thou hast vowed."[334] "When thou shalt vow a vow unto the
+Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will
+surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee."[335] From such
+dictates there can be no appeal. Even were we altogether ignorant of the
+reason why they were uttered, we should, because of the authority of
+God, willingly acquiesce in them. But the ground of them he has been
+pleased to make known. Were it not in order that the service promised in
+vowing might be performed, the vow had not been enjoined. Without the
+paying of the vow, the vowing of the vow were unnecessary, nay, sinful.
+A disruption of ends from means, grosser than the separation of the
+fulfilment of the vow from the making of it, could not be perpetrated.
+The vow is nothing; yea, worse than nothing; injurious to those who make
+it, and dishonouring to God, if it be not performed.
+
+Nor, because under the law, a commutation for some vows was accepted,
+are we to conceive that the passages in which the payment of the vow is
+commanded are not to be interpreted according to the utmost force of
+their obvious import. It is true that some things vowed might have been
+withheld, but not without the offering of a definite sum of money. These
+might have been redeemed by the payment of a price exceeding by
+one-fifth part of it, their value estimated by the priest, or when the
+parties were poor, by the giving of the amount at which the priest might
+value them.[336] By whichever of the two methods that might be adopted,
+the vow was virtually paid. The payment actually of the vow, or that of
+the compensation, was commanded; and either the one or the other behoved
+to be made. Nor when either of them was resorted to, seeing that any one
+of them was warranted, was the vow left unpaid. This variety of manner
+in the payment of vows, was suited to the circumstances of the Church
+under the Levitical institutes. By using any one of the methods, the vow
+was substantially fulfilled, not merely according to the will of man,
+but agreeably to the express appointment of God. As, had there been only
+one way then of fulfilling the obligation of the vow, it had been
+incumbent to proceed by that alone; so, under the present dispensation,
+the single method of implementing Covenant engagements that has been
+inculcated, because that no other is of Divine appointment, must be
+adopted. Even as under the law there were some things which, having been
+devoted to God under a curse, could not, because of the manner of their
+dedication, be redeemed,[337] so under the gospel, what is vowed to the
+Lord cannot without sacrilege be kept back.
+
+Fourthly. The Lord threatens those who keep not his Covenant. Temporal
+and spiritual deprivations enter into his denunciations on such.[338]
+"Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I
+commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the
+land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do
+them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people,
+and I will be your God." Nay, even eternal ruin awaits the impenitent
+violator of Covenant engagements. "Covenant-breakers, ... who, knowing
+the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of
+death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do
+them."[339] Were not the acceptance of the law of God in its covenant
+form to entail obligation, the breach of it would not be denounced as a
+breach of covenant; nor would his wrath descend on men as unsteadfast in
+his covenant, or as having broken it, but as having violated his holy
+law. Substantially then, by their own act, must they be brought under
+solemn obligation to God, who, having vowed to him, by failing to
+perform their promise, would become exposed to the stroke of his just
+vengeance. Where there is guilt there is sin, and where there is sin
+there was obligation, and where there is punishment, there were all.
+"Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" The people of God
+acknowledge themselves as bound by their oaths and vows. What was
+uttered by Jephthah regarding a vow which was unlawful, must have been
+employed by the fearers of God in reference to vows of which He
+approved,--"I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back."
+The Psalmist said, "So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I
+may daily perform my vows."[340] "I will pay my vows unto the Lord now
+in the presence of all his people."[341] "I have sworn, and I will
+perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments."[342] The language
+was dictated by the Spirit of inspiration. It was therefore lawful to
+use it. It ought to be used by all. The principle that vows and oaths
+require that they be fulfilled, is implied in it. That was therefore
+held by the saints in former times. Because of the words of God from
+which they drew it, it ought to be universally maintained.
+
+
+SECTION II.
+
+Social Covenanting entails obligation on the Covenanting society, even
+throughout its continued existence, till the end of the Covenant be
+attained.
+
+First. Because such covenants are made, not merely in the name of the
+individuals who enter into them, but also in the name of posterity. On
+recorded occasions of warranted Covenanting, such was the manner of
+entering into the engagements made. In addition to what has been said
+before in proof of this, merely the language employed at one of these
+seasons will here be quoted. "Neither with you only do I make this
+covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day
+before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this
+day." However, it may be necessary to add the explanation, that, by
+those who are represented as not present, we are to understand the
+descendants of the congregation of Israel; inasmuch as in reference to
+the duties then performed by the assembled people, it was said,
+"Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Hence,
+whatever, in consequence of entering into such federal engagements, is
+incumbent on those who make them, is binding on their successors; and
+since a covenant transaction binds the parties to the making of it, it
+therefore binds all those, though not present, whom these parties
+represent, and for whom also it was made. Whatever reason the
+transaction affords for binding the former, it supplies for holding the
+latter bound. The engagement made by and for the living Covenanters, is
+not less explicit than that thereby made by them for those who shall
+succeed to their privileges and duties. And as it is the engagement
+which binds, the latter are, not less than the former, brought under
+obligation by it. The federal compact could not be made without
+constituting an obligation. That could not be entered into without
+conferring that obligation on all the parties represented at its
+formation. And from its acknowledged nature, those to whom the functions
+of the Covenanters should descend, are included among those, and those
+therefore are thereby bound.
+
+Secondly. Because the Church is one in all ages. Her glorious Head is
+one. All her true members are spiritually united to him. All of them are
+united in love to one another. The Church is distinct from the world. By
+the ordinances given to her by the Lord Jesus, she is distinguished from
+civil society. She possesses a real incorporate character. The Church
+consists not of a limited number of those who at any time fear God, but
+of all of them. The individual members of the Church from day to day are
+changing; but she remains one. Some are constantly being added, others
+are removed from her communion on earth, but her characteristic absolute
+identity remains. Under the Patriarchal, Levitical, and Christian
+dispensations, she is one. As one body enduring from generation to
+generation by her Lord, she is spoken of, and is recognised by her
+members. To Jeremiah was given the commission, "Go, and cry in the ears
+of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the
+kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest
+after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." "Israel was
+holiness unto the Lord." "For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and
+burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress."[343] In days
+long posterior to the time of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, the
+Church sang, "He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the
+flood on foot: there did _we_ rejoice in him."[344] The Church,
+posterior to the advent of Christ, is represented as a house in which
+Moses had served, but which Christ had built, and over which, as well in
+the days of the patriarch as in the last times, He ruled as a Son.[345]
+And to the Church existing in all times, unquestionably belongs the
+inimitably beautiful description,--"Christ also loved the Church, and
+gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
+washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
+glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but
+that it should be holy and without blemish." Since the Church, then, is
+a body, her standing is independent of the individual members who may be
+in her communion; as a responsible agent, even as an individual, she may
+come under obligation and fulfil it; and through every age of her
+existence, be held bound to duty by her engagements. The same principle
+which is applicable to the Church as a whole, behoves to be contemplated
+by every Section of her in given circumstances. If the whole Church
+might enter into covenant engagements, as in Abraham, which would entail
+obligation throughout successive ages, ought not every community
+thereof, as a part of the whole, to bind itself before the Lord to
+services to be performed by its successors? If a whole society may
+Covenant, ought not an individual of that society to do so singly? And
+if the obligations come under by the one person, not less than those of
+the whole body, ought to be discharged, ought not those of a given
+Section of the visible Church to be fulfilled by it, as a body forming a
+part of the general community, even as the covenant duties of the whole.
+
+Thirdly. Because of the Church's social character. As it is not merely
+in their individual, but also in their social capacity, that her members
+enjoy privileges, so in both they are called to duty. The actions of an
+individual are not those of any society to which he may belong, except
+he act for them, and according to their appointment. But the deeds of a
+society are those of every member thereof, who does not disapprove of
+them; nay, of every one who, because of these deeds, does not leave its
+communion. The engagements of society are understood to be acceded to by
+every member of it existing when these are made, and of every one who
+may become connected with it before they be fulfilled. Every one who
+joins a society is understood by his act of joining it, to approve of
+its organization, to accept of its privileges, and become engaged to its
+duties. It would be impossible for society to continue, were obligation
+to cease so soon as the individuals who may have come under it should
+leave it, by death, or otherwise. Were the duties of social bodies to
+cease in this manner, it might be held that these communities should be
+re-constructed on the death of every individual member of them, and also
+on the accession of each one who might become connected with them. What
+accomplishes the same end which such practices would lead to, is secured
+in a far better manner by the whole body coming under, and fulfilling,
+obligations which do not become void either by the increase or the
+diminution of its members.
+
+Every individual capable of making a choice, who, by receiving the
+ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, becomes connected with the
+Church, engages to accept its privileges, and to perform its duties. In
+the most solemn manner, by vow before God, this is done. All that is
+incumbent on each member of the Church, then, devolves also on him. The
+obligations that bind it, may have been conferred ages before; but when
+he makes his profession, even then, by his own act, they descend upon
+him. The representation given of such a one, shews that formerly he was
+a heathen, or else one living in a Christian land, without the pale of
+the true Church. Before making his solemn acknowledgment, he was under
+obligation to become connected with the Church, and the evils that are
+threatened against those who are far from God hung over him. By entering
+the communion of the Church, he becomes an integral part of her society,
+and whatever advantage or responsibility attaches to membership within
+her, is extended to him.
+
+The children of Church members, are members of the Church, and are
+therefore under obligation. Because of their relation to their parents,
+children are in possession of the peculiar privileges of the families to
+which they belong; and to perform the duties of these, they are under
+obligation. Every child of a citizen, or free member of civil society,
+in consequence of its birth, is entitled to the protection and other
+privileges of that society, and is viewed as bound by the laws of that
+community. In like manner, every child born of those in communion with
+the Church, is viewed as the care of the Church, and as under the
+obligations of its members. In the providence of God, children are cast
+upon the care of parents and of civil communities; and are they not
+committed to the regard of the society of the faithful? Duties are
+incumbent upon them, in consequence of their civil relations; and are
+none obligatory on them because of their relation to the Church? The
+Lord himself recognises the children of believing parents as the members
+of his Church. In order to manifest his claim upon them, and acceptance
+of them as such, He instituted the ordinance of circumcision in a former
+period, and that of baptism to be obligatory in the present. Children
+are, therefore, bound by the obligations of the Church. Is that moral
+obligation which binds the father, not binding on the son? If the
+parent, by Covenanting, ought to vow to observe a system of moral
+duties, ought not the offspring? Is what is good for the one, bad for
+the other? Would it be consistent for a father, after having willingly
+engaged to duty for himself, to say such may or may not, according to
+his pleasure, and in either case, too, without any blame, be done by my
+son? Certainly the earlier that an obligation to do good can be
+conferred, the better. And if a parent can lawfully act for his child in
+any other matter, why not in performing this?
+
+The privileges enjoyed by the children of those in communion with the
+Church, manifest them to be under obligation. Duty and privilege are
+universally connected; and hence, where the one is awanting, the other
+cannot be found. In the beneficent arrangements of Divine love to the
+young, the latter is first extended. The enjoyment of it by them is a
+palpable evidence that obligation rests upon them. It is an adage among
+men, that what one inherits from his ancestors he owes to his
+descendants; and it is also manifest, that along with privilege, duty is
+hereditary. In regard to the things of religion, both of these things
+are most obvious. Would not that parent deal unjustly with his child,
+who, instead of bequeathing to him some privilege for his acceptance,
+would say, I do not know whether or not he will conform to the duties
+connected with it, and therefore I will sacrifice it or leave it to
+another? And would a child to whom some peculiarly valuable privilege
+has been bequeathed, and of the fruits of which he may have largely
+partaken, be warranted in reckoning as unlawful an entailed obligation
+to corresponding duty? Do not the laws of a nation find an individual
+bound so soon as he opens his eyes on the light of the sun? And ought
+not moral obligations, entered into willingly by Covenanting parents and
+ancestors, also, to hold the rising race completely bound? The
+privileges of civil society are available to youth long before they are
+able of themselves to take an active part in its public affairs; and
+thus these are brought under an obligation to support its good laws so
+soon as they voluntarily and effectively can. The privileges of a
+Christian community are, to a certain extent, enjoyed by its youth long
+before they can exert themselves actively for its interests; they are,
+therefore, under obligation, and so soon as they can perceive the
+importance of its voluntary Covenant engagements, they ought explicitly,
+to accede to them. Would it be cruel to cut off children from the
+privileges of civil society because of their feebleness? and would it
+not be cruel to deprive them of the advantages of covenants made for a
+defence to ourselves, which they equally need? Would it be hideously
+wicked to expose them to the knife of the murderer? and would it not be
+unspeakably criminal, by disregarding their education and failing to
+make engagements to instruct them, to abandon them to be poisoned by
+infidelity, superstition, error, or immorality? And if, by Covenanting
+and the fulfilment of the solemn engagements made on their behalf, the
+best privileges that could be bequeathed to youth, are conveyed to them,
+are they warranted to cast off the pleasing yoke of obligation, so
+gently laid upon them, and by resolving to neglect duty, to manifest
+themselves as unworthy of all the care that had been employed on their
+behalf? But it cannot be: all who have enjoyed the positive spiritual
+blessings that are conferred, in the mercy of God, on those who have
+entered into public solemn Covenants with him, will acknowledge
+themselves as his servants, and, far from reckoning themselves as under
+no descending obligation to duty, will rejoice, give thanks to him for
+laying a claim upon them by these, and gladly take hold on his Covenant
+again in their social capacity, that others to succeed them, even as
+they did, may gladly confess themselves to be devoted to him.
+
+Fourthly. Because Social Covenanting, approved in Scripture, conferred
+descending obligation. Abimelech required Abraham to enter into a
+covenant with him, which the patriarch would keep, by not dealing
+falsely with himself, nor with his son, nor with his son's son.[346] And
+accordingly that engagement, which was ratified by oath, was viewed by
+both parties, and unquestionably properly, as binding on all the
+individuals specified. By oath, the children of Israel made with Joseph
+a covenant, by which their descendants in fulfilling it, acknowledged
+themselves as engaged to carry up his bones from Egypt.[347] The
+covenant made by Joseph and the princes of the congregation of Israel
+with the Gibeonites, was kept by the descendants of both parties: and
+the breach of it on one occasion by Saul, was followed by tokens of
+Divine displeasure.[348] The covenant of the Rechabites, and that of
+David with Hiram--which obtained also between that individual and
+Solomon, are other illustrations. Such covenants were lawful. The
+sentiments entertained concerning the descending nature of their
+obligations, being uncondemned, were correct. A disregard for these
+obligations in one case having been followed by punishment, they must
+have been complete. There was nothing about any of these covenants that
+gave to their engagements a claim to continuance beyond those of other
+covenants, in which the welfare of posterity is contemplated. The
+obligation of such, therefore, even as those of the covenants specified,
+behove to continue.
+
+Fifthly. Because the ends of such covenants may not be attained during
+the existence on earth of those who entered into them. Nothing is more
+common in the providence of God, than for one to begin, and another to
+finish. Indeed the grand end of the Church's continuance in the world,
+is aspired at by the efforts of all her true members. Guided by Divine
+teaching, the fearers of God adopt means for declaring His glory. In His
+providence, however, their lawful purposes are in general carried only
+partially into effect. The work which he gives countenance to some to
+undertake, according to his own good pleasure, he commits to others.
+Hence his people are employed in filling up what others had designed,
+and also in arranging what their own successors may complete. A glorious
+Lord rules over every occurrence in the Church's history. Schemes of
+reformation set on foot by his servants he acknowledges. When he will,
+they are enabled to complete them; otherwise they are wound up by
+others. To resolve to use means to bring the Church to a state of
+excellence, to which, according to the promise of God, she will yet come
+on earth, is obligatory on them who fear him. To vow to use those means,
+they are under obligation. Though they may not live to fulfil all that
+they intended, yet they will be preserved till the work assigned to them
+be accomplished. Their removal does not manifest their Lord's
+displeasure at them, but his intention to bestow upon them a gracious
+reward. Nor does the blank left in the Church by their decease, manifest
+that the works which they had undertaken, behoved not to be fulfilled.
+Others, the Lord of all, will call to the service, and accept of the
+obedience rendered by them as the fulfilment of obligations to obey him,
+which had been made by others, not merely on their own behalf, but on
+behalf of such as he might employ to serve him. What his people lawfully
+vow to him, he will afford means to perform. And in carrying his
+purposes into effect, he will make them at once to serve him, and to
+accomplish what others in dependence on Divine grace had pledged
+themselves to use every means in their power to perform.
+
+Sixthly. Because the people of God view themselves as bound by anterior
+engagements of his Church. In the land of Moab Moses said, "The Lord our
+God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant
+with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive
+this day."[349] Many of those whom he addressed in these words were not
+then born. The obligations of their fathers must, therefore, have
+descended to them. In many passages of Scripture do the saints
+acknowledge themselves as included in the covenant made with Abraham,
+and, consequently, as brought under its obligations.[350] By a prophet
+of the Lord Israel are exhibited as recognising themselves to have been
+represented in the covenant transaction of Bethel. "He found him in
+Bethel, and there he spake with us."[351] The words of Peter to the
+people of Israel on this point are explicit,--"Ye are the children of
+the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
+saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the
+earth be blessed."[352] Expressing the sentiment, that their fathers had
+entered into Covenant engagements with God, in which they were
+recognised, Moses, and all Israel, on the shores of the Red Sea, thus
+sang,--"The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation:
+he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my _father's_ God,
+and I will exalt him."[353] And in language acknowledging explicitly
+obligation to obedience that had been transmitted by the deeds of
+parents or ancestors engaged to God's service, the Psalmist offers
+praise--"O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant and the son of
+thy handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the
+sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I
+will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his
+people."[354]
+
+Finally. Because the Lord himself always views his Church as bound by
+the Covenant engagements thereof, competent to its circumstances, made
+in all earlier periods. By the covenant which he made with his servant
+Abraham, and once and again renewed to him, he held his people bound. At
+the ratification of that covenant the scene was impressive. It is thus
+described,--"I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees,
+to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby
+shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an
+heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram
+of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took
+unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece
+one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls
+came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was
+going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great
+darkness fell upon him.... And it came to pass, that, when the sun went
+down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp
+that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a
+covenant with Abram."[355] The lamp of fire was an emblem of God's
+gracious presence as a Covenant God. The smoking furnace symbolized the
+people of Israel who were to be tried in the iron furnace of affliction
+in Egypt. These were not then born. Yet in Abraham they were present. By
+the lamp of fire passing between the parts of the sacrifice, the Lord's
+ratification of the covenant was denoted. And by the smoking furnace
+also, proceeding between the parts, it was pointed out, that they even
+then were taken into covenant with him. That covenant the Lord kept with
+the whole house of Israel, even as if they had all of them been then
+present. "Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and
+broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name
+of Abraham: and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a
+covenant with him, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
+Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to
+give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art
+righteous."[356] And the duties of the covenant, as if all Israel had
+been before him when it was made, he enjoined on them. "And God said
+unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed
+after thee, in their generations."[357] Moreover, he commands all to
+keep his covenant as made, not merely with his people at any given
+period, but as entered into by the faithful who went before them. "He
+hath commanded his covenant for ever." We have seen that these words
+inculcate the exercise of Covenanting. It is manifest, also, that they
+intimate that a covenant with God by each one, should be kept by those
+who make it. But the full scope of the passage is not brought out, if we
+do not view it as inculcating, not merely that the duty of Covenanting
+should be performed throughout every age, but that, until all the
+engagements of the people of God, made in every period, be implemented,
+they confer obligation on their successors. And he is angry with, and
+threatens those who keep not the covenants of those who represented
+them, as if they had broken a covenant with him made by themselves.
+"They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which
+refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them:
+the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which
+I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will
+bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though
+they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."[358]
+
+Hence, in conclusion,
+
+First, Covenanting entails obligation even on the unbeliever who vows
+and swears. Were it not to do so, then no command of God would be
+binding on the wicked; the moral unfitness of man in a state of nature,
+would shield him from the claims of God's law, and any ordinance of God
+might be abused with impunity. But, God will not be mocked. Whosoever
+attempts duty will be either accepted or found guilty. Divine
+institutions must be respected. Every law of God contemplates an
+immediate and an ultimate end. If a vow be made in sincerity, God will
+give grace to fulfil it in some measure; and if neglect in the supposed
+case follow, chastisement will be inflicted. If a vow be made
+deceitfully--otherwise than which the wicked cannot make it--a double
+obligation is contracted:--an obligation to punishment for dealing
+falsely with God; and a debt of obedience because of submitting, though
+feignedly, to an ordinance appointed by him. The law of God, enjoining
+the duty of Covenanting, is founded on His own nature; the imperfections
+of man, therefore, cannot abate its claims. Even as the observation of
+the other ordinances of God brings under special obligations, so the
+exercise of attending to this confers one peculiar to itself. It is
+lawful to pray, but it is sinful to do so without sincerity. God will
+not answer the supplication that is not presented in faith; but he will
+demand the obedience which the grace prayed for, if asked aright, would
+afford strength to perform. It is necessary to read the word of God, but
+sinful to peruse it thoughtlessly, or in an irreverent frame of mind.
+But, however it may be read, he will call for the duty which a proper
+reading of that word by His blessing would afford a resolution to
+perform. Thus, also, God will not accept the vows of the wicked; but He
+will claim what they vow, and will punish them if they do not make it
+good. Thus Israel, though many of them did not enter into it with
+sincerity, were charged with breaking the covenant with God which they
+professed to make in the wilderness at Sinai, and punished for the sin
+thereby contracted.[359] Thus, also, Zedekiah suffered for breaking the
+covenant which he made with the king of Babylon by oath.[360] Indeed, it
+is the wicked alone who break the covenant of God. They never sincerely
+have entered into it, but their disregard of it, after having professed
+to accede to it, is represented as a violation of it; and over such
+impends a fearful woe. "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants
+thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance,
+broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the
+earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate."[361] How dreadful,
+then, is it for sinners to speak to God perfidiously! And how important,
+according to his commandment, to draw near unto him in making solemn
+vows, in dependence on that grace which it is his to give, in order that
+the vow may be acceptably made, and also performed!
+
+Secondly. Though some connected with the visible church do not engage in
+the duty of formal Covenanting, they are not therefore free from
+covenant obligation. All who are not in the communion of the true
+Church, are exposed to the wrath threatened against those who are far
+from God. A connection with that Church brings under obligation. The
+vows of God are upon all, received by Baptism or the Lord's Supper into
+its communion, whether worthy members or not. The spiritual blessings
+promised to Abraham and to his seed--even to all the faithful--belong to
+the people of God therein; and all the duties incumbent on those to whom
+great and precious promises have been made, devolve on them. Till it be
+paid, every vow made by a member of the Church, whatever be his
+character, he is under obligation to perform. Till they be paid, all the
+vows vowed by those in the Church of God who represented him in all past
+time, are upon him. The vows made, and that should have been made
+lawfully by the Church in all past time since the days of the
+Apostles--those vowed at that distinguished period, and those entered
+into in all preceding eras, even up till the time when the Covenant was
+revealed, in so far as their matter was not peculiar to given
+dispensations, but adapted to all, unite to bring him under one
+obligation. Through every age that was gathering weight. Viewed as
+accumulating and being transmitted through the voluntary agency of man,
+it is manifestly mighty; contemplated as conferred by the authority of
+God, it appears to be infinite. Divine grace alone can enable to pay the
+debt of duty. Happy they who look by faith for that! Thus, in proportion
+to her acquaintance with the covenant transactions of the past, the
+Church ought to feel herself under obligation. With her progress her
+real responsibility will increase. Like the force of gravitation towards
+a central orb, the force of obligation propelling her, will increase
+with time; and with a celerity due to all her solemn covenant
+engagements, she will enter the latter-day glory, responsive to the
+almighty call of Him who draws his people to himself, and who having
+given them to enjoy on earth such a foretaste of the future, will
+introduce them to the scene where the Lord himself will be their
+everlasting light, and the days of their mourning shall be ended.
+
+Thirdly. A minority in a church, or that in a nation, are bound by the
+lawful public vows made by the whole body, even though the community as
+a whole, may have cast them off. Though a nation, or a body professing
+to be a church, after having come under obligations to duty, were to
+resolve that truth is error, or that duty is sin, yet such a resolution
+could not bind the community. No authority whatsoever will dissolve the
+obligation of an oath. Hence, when lawful covenant engagements are
+disregarded by a community, the excellence which gave it an attractive
+power is gone. Then the glory is departed. And the degraded society,
+like the robe which once covered the living body, but is afterwards cast
+off, is faded and corrupt. The living principle embodied in some members
+of such a community, behoves to become separate from it, and to show
+that, indeed, that body which came under obligations that are not
+exhausted, is in succeeding times to exist in a new but glorious
+sphere.[362] It is not the invelopement, but the living faithful body,
+that is the care of the covenant. Each member owes a debt of covenant
+duty. And though apostasy may paralyze the body, so that by it as a
+whole, that obligation may not be felt, let that which lives, therefore,
+act in fulfilling it, even through a disruption and consequent
+re-organization. Devotedness to duty will be visited with an energy
+which will increase in the face of every difficulty. To flee
+individually from obligation, is to shun the wholesale ruin of the whole
+unfaithful mass, but in order to be taken and fall--each one personally
+for his iniquity.
+
+Fourthly. Covenanting does not implicate conscience. By this, it is
+intended that the exercise does not bring under any obligation to do
+what is evil, or to abstain at any future time from modifying the
+engagement made, so as to render it more and more perfect. It is
+admitted, nay, contended for, that the exercise brings under obligation:
+but that is only to duty. The duty is not to be abandoned because it
+cannot be properly performed. If it were, then, for the same reason,
+every other might be disregarded. No covenant engagement is perfect.
+Either in its matter or manner, each of these may have many defects.
+Indeed, were one to vow all the duty unfolded in the Scriptures, the
+engagement would be sound. Every believer virtually does that. But
+special vows are necessary. The former, exclusively, is competent only
+to a period of the Church's future history, when her attainments will
+far exceed those heretofore made by her. But in order that such a step
+as that may be taken, by vowing habitually and performing, the Church
+ought to make assiduous preparation. Men ought to enter into Covenant as
+duty presents itself. If we perceive that we have vowed to sin, let us
+not perform, but pray to God for forgiveness, and engage to what is
+lawful. It is foreign to the scope of the ordinance to give countenance
+to sin. None, however, on that account, can excuse himself for not
+coming under and fulfilling a good obligation. Though we cannot do other
+duties perfectly, we would not be warranted in refusing to perform
+these. We have no might in ourselves to do any good thing: nay, even the
+services of the saints, performed in faith, are all imperfect; but we
+are, nevertheless, called to duty. The dread of doing evil ought not to
+prevent from making efforts to perform what is good. One may be left to
+enter into a wrong engagement; but he is not on that account to abstain
+from endeavours to engage and perform aright. Man has a claim upon his
+brother in consequence of his engagements made with him. If one,
+however, promise what is evil, and another demand fulfilment, both are
+faulty,--the one for engaging to do evil, the other for urging an
+unwarranted claim. Covenant engagements should not, however, be
+neglected, but be wisely made and kept. By Covenanting to do duty, we
+are neither foolishly nor sinfully committed. God will require what is
+right, and that alone. We ought to make every lawful effort to perform
+duty. Our best efforts to serve God are but approximations. They ought,
+however, to be continued. Are we to abandon any one means of doing good,
+because the improper use of it would do injury? The bond of a covenant
+with God is a holy bond: it cannot come in contact with what is evil.
+With various condemnation, it allows all such to pass; but it constrains
+to good. The evil in a bond professing to sustain that high character
+mars it. Better that were changed, by the removal of the evil, than to
+remain imperfect because of the continuance thereof. The evil impairs
+its dignity and excellence, nay, tends to make it void. Evil confers no
+obligation. The admission of it into any engagement is sinful. The good
+part of every compact accords not with it, but demands its expulsion.
+Let those who acknowledge themselves to be called to obedience not
+refrain from vowing: but in doing this duty, let them be cautious, and
+endeavouring to perform, let them fear to break, their engagement to
+duty, and also to keep what they ought not to have promised. To neglect
+either of these things is sinful. To vow, however, notwithstanding the
+dreadful consequences of sinfully doing so, and of not performing, is
+indispensable. To do so, is to use an appointed means of arriving at the
+knowledge of God, to make progress towards spiritual perfection, and to
+prepare to attain at last to the great end of all his arrangements for
+sinners--even complete conformity to the will of God, and the promotion
+of His glory.
+
+Finally. That men are bound by previous descending Covenant obligations,
+is no reason why they should not themselves engage in Covenanting. Have
+not all the chosen of God to be brought successively nearer and nearer
+to him? And ought not this exercise, designed for facilitating this, to
+be carefully had recourse to? Are not the Scriptures to be read? Are not
+all the means of grace to be used for this? Covenanting is a means of
+the restoration of men to Him from every imperfection, whether in an
+unconverted or converted state. Engaging in it, they are described as
+returning to God.[363] By it, all ought to return from every departure
+from him. Throughout their lives, believers will be imperfect, and will
+be called to use this means of attaining their expected end. The
+obligations entailed from the past bind to the duty. The very first
+obligation, voluntarily accepted by personally or socially discharging
+it, binds additionally to it. Every new performance thereof adds to the
+motive to engage in it again; so that, instead of the obligation to
+Covenant being diminished by the doing of the duty, it is rather
+increased. And as the believer goes on to perform it, his call to the
+service will wax indefinitely great. His is the state of mind cherished
+by the Psalmist declaring himself cordially bound, when he vowed in
+these words,--"Thy vows are upon me, O God. I will render praises unto
+thee."[364]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[314] P. 37 of "Observations on the Public Covenants betwixt God and the
+Church," by the Rev. Dr. Mason, late of Wishawtown,--a work presenting a
+rich scriptural view of the subject.
+
+[315] Job xxxiv. 17.
+
+[316] 1 Sam. xxii. 8.
+
+[317] Ps. xxxi. 20.
+
+[318] Numb. xxx. 2.
+
+[319] These are, חבש, קשר, רכס, אסר.
+
+[320] Jer. l. 5; see also Is. lvi. 3; and Zech. ii. 11.
+
+[321] Is. xxvii. 5; and lvi. 4-6.
+
+[322] Nehem. ix. 38.
+
+[323] Deut. xxx. 20.
+
+[324] Deut. x. 20.
+
+[325] Jer. xiii. 11; see also ver. 1-10.
+
+[326] Ps. lxiii. 8, 11.
+
+[327] Jer. xi. 6.
+
+[328] Deut. xxix. 9.
+
+[329] Ps. cxxxii. 12.
+
+[330] Deut. xi. 1.
+
+[331] Rev. ii. 25, 26.
+
+[332] Ps. cxix. 111.
+
+[333] Ps. lxxvi. 11.
+
+[334] Eccl. v. 4.
+
+[335] Deut. xxiii. 21.
+
+[336] Lev. xxvii. 1-25.
+
+[337] Lev. xxvii. 28, 29.
+
+[338] Jer. xi. 3, 4; see also v. 10-12; Deut. xxix. 18-21; Jer. xxxiv.
+18-20; Ezek. xvii. 18, 19.
+
+[339] Rom. i. 31, 32.
+
+[340] Ps. lxi. 8.
+
+[341] Ps. cxvi. 14.
+
+[342] Ps. cxix. 106.
+
+[343] Jer. ii. 2, 3, 20.
+
+[344] Ps. lxvi. 6.
+
+[345] Heb. iii. 2, 6.
+
+[346] Gen. xxi. 23.
+
+[347] Exod. xiii. 19.
+
+[348] Jos. ix. 15, and 2 Sam. xxi. 1, 2.
+
+[349] Deut. v. 2, 3.
+
+[350] Some of these are, Ps. xlvii. 9; Is. xiii. 16; Luke i. 72-74; Gal.
+iii. 7.
+
+[351] Hos. xii. 4.
+
+[352] Acts iii. 25.
+
+[353] Exod. xv. 2.
+
+[354] Ps. cxvi. 16-18.
+
+[355] Gen. xv. 8-12, 17, 18.
+
+[356] Neh. ix. 7, 8.
+
+[357] Gen. xvii. 9.
+
+[358] Jer. xi. 10, 11.
+
+[359] Deut. xxxi. 16, 17.
+
+[360] Ezek. xvii. 18, 19.
+
+[361] Is. xxiv. 5, 6.
+
+[362] 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.
+
+[363] As one of many passages which show this, see Jer. iv. 12.
+
+[364] Ps. lvi. 12.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+COVENANTING PROVIDED FOR IN THE EVERLASTING COVENANT.
+
+
+The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also
+stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The
+promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was
+due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The
+revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose
+from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the
+authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other,
+we see the claims of that law which cannot be abrogated, put forth along
+with manifestations of sovereign good-will to men. Had God dealt with
+men according to their iniquities, that law which, in the first of men,
+they had violated, would have demanded their final punishment; and they,
+unable, because unwilling to give obedience, and unprovided with the
+means of deliverance, had fallen to ruin. In order that his mercy might
+be manifested, the Lord, from the days of eternity, secured to sinners a
+fitness for duty, to stand as a substitute for that spiritual strength
+which they should lose by transgression, and acceptance through a great
+Mediator, which else had not been enjoyed. On man, in a state of
+innocence, and also in a state of sin, the duty of Covenanting was
+enjoined. By reason of sin, strength given to him at first to perform
+it, was for ever forfeited. But to many, by a wondrous scheme of Divine
+love, it is given to enjoy, from engaging in it, benefits which cannot
+be lost.
+
+
+SECTION I.
+
+In regard to sinners, the exercise was provided for in the Covenant of
+Redemption.
+
+This was made from the days of eternity. It is described as the
+"Everlasting Covenant."[365] The phrase cannot mean less than
+that it extends from eternity to eternity. In adoration of the Lord,
+made known as a covenant God, it is said, "from everlasting to
+everlasting, thou art God."[366] The Mediator "was set up from
+everlasting:"[367]--necessarily by entering into covenant. Thus, his
+"goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."[368] The
+covenant is a reality. "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have
+sworn unto David my servant.--My mercy will I keep for him for evermore,
+and my covenant shall stand fast with him."[369] When was the Father's
+servant covenanted to him, if he stood not engaged to him from eternity?
+The conditions and promise of the covenant are recorded. "Yet it pleased
+the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make
+his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
+his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He
+shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
+knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear
+their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
+and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured
+out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors;
+and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
+transgressors."[370] And the mutual satisfaction of the Father and Son
+with the conditions and fulfilment of the covenant, is also revealed.
+"The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify
+the law, and make it honourable."[371] "He shall see of the travail of
+his soul, and shall be satisfied."
+
+First. In the Covenant of Redemption, Christ, represented all the elect.
+Even as the faithful descendants of Abraham were comprehended in the
+covenant which God established with him, but in a far higher sense, the
+elect were included in that which was made with the Redeemer. And as
+Adam was the representative of the human family, so Christ became the
+Head of all who should be saved.[372] It was on account of the people
+who were given to Him that the covenant was made. By an electing decree
+they were chosen in Him. And the covenant was entered into with him as
+their legal representative. From eternity, therefore, by a legal, though
+not an actual union to Christ, they are a covenant people. And even then
+the blessings of the covenant were provided for them. Till they be
+joined to Christ, the elect are not entitled to the blessings provided
+for them. But still they were contemplated in the covenant. That gave
+them the privilege of being joined to the Redeemer. God, the Father,
+made with Christ, for each of his people, an everlasting covenant. They
+are therefore bound to Covenant. Do the deeds of our ancestors bind us
+to enter into covenant? That high deed in this takes precedence. The law
+of nature imposes the obligation; the forbearance of God affords
+opportunities for fulfilling it; the Covenant of Redemption, from which
+even the forbearance of God proceeds, leads to the duty by a claim
+infinitely strong. The elect were all taken into covenant; in their
+name, the Surety engaged that they would enter into covenant; on their
+behalf He promised an obedience which none other than himself could
+give; but he promised also the obedience that they should render--not
+necessary nor required for fulfilling the conditions of the covenant,
+but requisite, to show, to the glory of God, the certainty of the
+fulfilment of these; and the Father accepted the offer. Covenanting,
+according to God's immutable law, is included in the obedience. It is
+therefore provided for in the covenant. How high then are the motives to
+the observation of this? It was Covenanted, not by the chosen of God
+themselves; not by Abraham, or the Church, or any mere man; yea, not by
+any creature. Rising above all such transactions engaged in by men,
+though in accordance with them, the covenant in which it was secured was
+entered into by the Three-One God, and ratified by Christ. They who will
+not perform the duty are none of his. He represented each of his people.
+Each is therefore called individually to Covenant. He represented his
+people in their associate capacity as his Church. In that they are
+called to enter into covenant with God. He represented them in all their
+approved social relations. In all these they are bound by his engagement
+to take hold on God's covenant.
+
+Secondly. All the promises accepted in Covenanting were made to the
+Surety in the Covenant of Redemption. In a promise including that of
+every benefit which those should enjoy through him, a seed was presented
+to him. The promise of the Spirit, and all His glorious effects through
+the word, was made not merely to the Church but to Christ himself, and
+therefore to him in the everlasting covenant. "As for me, this is my
+covenant with them, saith the Lord; my Spirit that is upon thee, and my
+words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth,
+nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's
+seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever."[373] To Noah, to
+Abraham, to Israel under Moses, and to the Church in succeeding ages,
+the Lord gave the promise that he would establish his covenant with his
+people.[374] And a promise equivalent to this he made when he engaged to
+establish his called and chosen, as a holy people to himself.[375] But a
+promise including each of these was given to Christ. In a passage where
+the very same verb (קום, _to establish_,) that occurs in the
+portions quoted, is employed, it is found. "I will preserve thee, and
+give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause
+to inherit the desolate heritages."[376] And in another, where a verb
+(כון) of a kindred import, but from a different origin, is
+used, it is recorded.[377] It is the promise of God that is laid hold on
+in Covenanting. He commands to draw near to him in the exercise. He has
+prescribed the matter of vows which he will accept. But in order to give
+encouragement to perform the duty and fulfil its engagements, he has
+also made promises of good. To the sinner these could not otherwise come
+than through Christ. To Him at first they were made, and that for men.
+When the saints accept them, they cleave to what comes to them as not
+standing alone, but interested in the work of the great Surety; and
+accordingly, as the children of a covenant appointed to sanction, among
+other practices glorifying to God, a service by which the
+once-rebellious should, from age to age, testify, against the sin of
+refusing the offers of Divine favour, and to the justice of the claims
+which the Giver of all good has upon the most solemn resolutions to
+serve him, which men can present as a tribute to his honour.
+
+Thirdly. It is on the ground of the righteousness of Christ, by which he
+fulfilled the obligations of the everlasting covenant contracted by
+him, that his people Covenant with God. From among many passages in
+which this is taught, that may be familiar to every careful reader of
+the Scriptures, the following may be selected for illustration:--"Their
+children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be
+established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And
+their nobles (NOBLE ONE) shall be of themselves, and their GOVERNOR
+shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near,
+and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to
+approach unto me? saith the Lord. And ye shall be my people, and I will
+be your God."[378] The NOBLE ONE here mentioned is Christ. He is also
+the Governor who should proceed from the midst of Israel. The
+description given of him is not applicable to any earthly ruler of the
+house of Jacob. It corresponds to Him alone, who, in other prophecies,
+is denominated "My servant David,"[379] and in the Psalms is celebrated
+as "the Governor among the nations."[380] In fulfilling all
+righteousness, obeying the law of God, and suffering and dying for his
+people, and in making intercession for them, he approached unto God. To
+that, he was engaged when the prophecy was uttered; he had been so from
+eternity. To his drawing near and making an approach unto God, the
+establishment of the congregation of the Lord before him, His
+recognition of them as his people, and their acknowledgment of Him as
+their God, are manifestly attributed in the passage. It was by faith in
+him, that the saints, in early times, while they offered sacrifice by
+Covenanting, acknowledged the Lord to be their God. It was by faith in
+him, that all to succeed them should in this manner avouch the Lord. He
+is the way unto the Father. By Him his people have access unto the grace
+wherein they stand. He drew near to present an acceptable sacrifice; and
+as a priest, he makes intercession. It is by Him that his people draw
+near. While they profess their faith in him, it is by Him that they draw
+nigh in the full assurance of faith.[381] It was by his sufferings and
+death that the everlasting covenant was ratified. And when he died, the
+way to all duty and privilege was opened to all who should believe upon
+him; and the title of the saints who had gone before to the enjoyment of
+the eternal inheritance, and who had Covenanted to accept its blessings,
+was shown to be secure.
+
+Fourthly. Believers, as a people who would Covenant and fulfil their
+obligations, were given to the Mediator in the everlasting covenant. As
+a covenant people, the heathen were given to Him for an
+inheritance.[382] According to an interpretation of an apostle, He
+himself says, "Behold, I, and the children whom God hath given
+me--."[383] And that such were promised as a people who should discharge
+the duty of Covenanting, and the other engagements of the covenant,
+appears from the words, "How shall I put thee among the children, and
+give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations?
+And I said, thou shalt call me, my Father; and shalt not turn away from
+me."[384] He received also the promise--implying, that a people in
+serving Him should habitually take hold on him in Covenanting,--"A seed
+shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a
+generation."[385] These, and corresponding declarations, teach how
+intimately connected with the gift of a people to the Redeemer was the
+provision made for the obedience to be claimed and accepted at their
+hands. They mercifully intimate that one of the reasons for which they
+were given to him, was that they should obey God in taking hold of his
+covenant. It was in the everlasting Covenant that they were promised by
+the Father, and accepted by the Son. On the condition here specified,
+they were received. They are, therefore, urged to the duty, in
+consequence of that infinitely glorious compact; and, by the offer of
+the Father, the acceptance of the Son, the Covenanted aid of the Spirit,
+by the bowels of Divine love, to this, and consequently to all its
+engagements, they are bound.
+
+Finally. The elect were chosen in Christ that, in union to him, they
+might perform this duty. To all that is included in holiness, these were
+chosen in him. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the
+foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
+him in love."[386] It is in that spiritual union to him, which was
+secured by their election and the gift of them in the everlasting
+Covenant, that they discharge every duty.[387] It was because of the
+sovereign love of God that his Church was chosen, and united to Christ
+in the character of his Covenanted Spouse. In consequence of that love,
+which is manifested even by the infliction of chastisement, being
+branches of Him--the true vine--they are purged that they may bring
+forth more abundantly those fruits of righteousness, among which stands
+the act of taking hold on God's covenant.[388] These fruits include not
+merely the obedience of the life, but the homage of the heart expressed
+by the lip. And by the lip, fruit is brought forth when God's name is
+called upon in vowing and swearing to him. "By him therefore let us
+offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
+our lips, giving thanks (confessing) to his name."[389] The elect are
+chosen "to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
+the truth;"[390] and consequently to Covenanting, as well as every other
+act in which faith is exercised. By faith they vow and swear; and that
+is connected with union to Christ. Whatever view of the Spirit's
+procedure in the day of regeneration may be entertained, union to Christ
+is then effected, faith is given, and the believer proceeds to endeavour
+after obedience. Some have maintained that faith precedes union to the
+Redeemer; others, that union to Him anticipates that grace. And,
+accordingly, though both classes maintain that these occur
+simultaneously, yet they entertain opposite opinions regarding the
+relative order in which they take place, or what is denominated "the
+order of nature," in reference to this. If it were necessary to admit
+that an order of nature is observed here, the latter supposition would
+seem to have the better claim. But though in many things connected with
+the believer's progress there is unquestionably an order of nature,
+perhaps there is no necessity for introducing that idea in reference to
+this particular case. By maintaining that such an order obtains here,
+there is manifested a tendency, as if to represent the two things as
+proceeding like two points in a straight line, which moves in the
+direction of its length, and so to conceive that one of them must
+necessarily be first; while, by abandoning the notion of such an order,
+we might compare the two to two points, both of which are carried by the
+line moving only in a direction perpendicular to itself, and so conceive
+that at any instant both would be first. And the latter supposition,
+indeed, seems to correspond with the circumstances of the facts. At the
+same moment that Divine power is put forth in order to conversion, both
+union to Christ, and the faith which recognises that union, are at once
+vouchsafed. Then indeed a new life is begun, and the manifestations of
+life necessarily begin to appear. Lastly, the faith of the believer is
+exercised by him in resting on Christ as the one foundation laid in
+Zion; and reposing on him, he habitually takes hold on the Covenant of
+God, instead of a refuge of lies--the covenant with death and hell,
+which shall be swept away.[391] It is to the glory of God that Christ is
+confessed.[392] It is in union to Christ as the true foundation that
+this is done.[393] The glory of God as a strength is spoken of as being
+founded. "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
+strength (founded glory)."[394] Where there is Divine power and Majesty,
+there is glory. "Strength and beauty (glory) are in his sanctuary."[395]
+Resting on the one foundation, as a temple to the glory of God, the
+Church engaging in the act of confessing Him in Covenanting, and
+otherwise keeping his Covenant, will therefore realize the promise, "I
+bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation
+shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my
+glory."[396]
+
+
+SECTION II.
+
+Covenanting, under every dispensation of Divine Grace, was provided for.
+
+In the scheme of Redemption, all the means by which it should be carried
+into effect were provided. From that proceeded the means of grace
+adapted to the circumstances of the Church in every period of history.
+From that followed those arrangements that were suited to the
+Patriarchal, Levitical, and later times; and from that arose all the
+various dispensations themselves. Exhibitions of Christ, the chief
+blessing of the Covenant, were common to all of them. Nay, to make these
+exhibitions, all of them were devised. The world was adapted to man,
+whether in a state of innocence, or in a state in which he should be
+invited to return to God. According to the wondrous plans of Him who
+foresaw and arranged all things, the world, after trangression, behoved
+not to be lost, but to be made the scene of events glorifying to God. To
+suppose that the earth was formed for the purpose of carrying into
+effect the plan of salvation is allowable. To imagine that that plan was
+being carried into effect in Eden, even before the sin of man, is in
+opposition to the spirit of the declaration that Christ came to call not
+the righteous, but sinners to repentance--to the truth that the
+salvation of man, was a salvation from sin, and that the God of
+salvation is He who pardoneth iniquity, nay, to the whole tenor of
+Scripture. To admit, however, that the world was a scene on which man in
+innocence, throughout whatever period God might have willed, might have
+enjoyed good, the wisdom of Him who arranges not, nor commands what may
+not be fulfilled, requires. But the sentiment that the Covenant of Works
+secured the continuance of man upon the earth, even after the fall, is
+not merely gratuitous, but in direct opposition to the consideration
+that the world was destroyed by the flood on account of the sin of man,
+and that God's covenant with Noah secured those outward advantages of
+which not merely the righteous but the wicked were to partake. It seems
+inconsistent with the sentiments which we should entertain of the wisdom
+and other attributes of God, to suppose that the world was created
+either for man in a state of innocence exclusively, or for him
+exclusively in a state of sin. Even facts show that the world was
+adapted to both. That the facts of providence upon our world, however,
+which have occurred in consequence of a system of forbearance, which
+depends on the arrangements of the Covenant of Redemption, and others
+that show his grace, flow directly from these, is most manifest. The
+erection and continuance of the Church in the world, directly flow from
+that covenant. Faith in God in every age, interests in Christ the
+surety, and through him in all the blessings of the covenant. Even
+before some of its signs were given, those to whom it was given to
+believe upon Him, were taken into covenant. "We say that faith was
+reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he
+was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in
+uncircumcision." And in every age, they who believe are the children of
+the covenant. In the first ages of the world, we find a righteous Abel,
+an Enoch who walked with God, men who had the name of God called upon
+them, the sons of God, and Noah, a preacher of righteousness. And we
+find that all who, like Abraham, believe in God, have their faith
+counted to them for righteousness: "And he received the sign of
+circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet
+being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that
+believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be
+imputed unto them also."[397] It was in the acceptance of God's promise
+to him of a seed of whom Christ should come, that Abraham believed God.
+It was, therefore, in the exercise of Covenanting. It was as the
+representative of a Covenant seed that Abraham was the father of all
+them that believe. The Covenant made with Abraham, as the father of the
+faithful, endures. "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the
+Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
+Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though,
+it be but a man's covenant, yet, if it be confirmed, no man
+disannulleth, or addeth thereto."[398] The covenant which God made with
+Noah, even as that which he made with Abraham, he designates "My
+Covenant." All, therefore, who believe, in whatever time, are interested
+in one covenant with God. That was confirmed of God in Christ.[399] Its
+ratification by the death of Christ, the testator, was the ratification
+of the Covenant of Redemption.[400] The blessings of it are the
+blessings of the Covenant of Redemption. That covenant--the Covenant of
+Grace--is, therefore, the Covenant of Redemption revealed and dispensed
+to man. The latter flows from and was provided by the other; and this
+appears also from the fact, that the true Church in the world is
+characterized by her adherence to God's covenant. True religion, and all
+its institutions, are represented in Scripture as a covenant with God.
+The different dispensations of Divine grace are each denominated a
+covenant--the first dispensation, the "Old Covenant"--the last
+dispensation, the "New Covenant." Promises made, duties inculcated, and
+signs given for the direction of the faith of God's people, are each
+exhibited as a covenant. These facts can be explained only on the
+principle that all of these things so presented, proceed from the
+covenant of God--which was from eternity, but was made known to man--and
+take their common designation from their connection with that
+Everlasting Covenant. The adoption of this obvious rule of
+interpretation would have saved the many vain attempts that have been
+made to deny the existence of the Everlasting Covenant, and to
+misrepresent the true nature of those different dispensations of Divine
+grace, which have been denominated from it. It would have prevented from
+absurdly maintaining that what is represented as God's covenant with his
+people, is not, in reality, a covenant, but merely a law. By tracing all
+the dispensations of grace to one great source, it would have
+acknowledged them, as they are presented in the sacred record, to be
+consistent with one another, and would have prevented all the spiritual
+poverty that arises from refusing to accept of the flood of light which
+the Old Testament record casts forth towards the illustration of that of
+the New; and would have shown, that while some services of a former
+period, having served their purpose, have indeed passed, others, and,
+among the rest, that of Covenanting with God, which have, along with
+those, been by many consigned to abolition, are indeed among those
+institutes which, till heaven and earth pass, shall not pass away. But
+to proceed. The revelation of the will of God is in Scripture
+represented as a covenant. A term, (חזות), meaning
+literally _a vision_, and consequently _a revelation_, is put also to
+denote _a Covenant_ or _agreement_. In various passages it occurs in the
+first acceptation.[401] In the last, it is employed in the original of
+the following:--"And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and
+your _agreement_ with hell shall not stand."[402] Now, though this
+passage does not refer to a covenant with God, yet it alludes to a
+transaction of a covenant character; and, consequently, may be
+understood as containing, in reference to what is evil, a form of
+expression that might be employed regarding a covenant with God. Indeed,
+from various representations of Scripture, made in different terms, the
+act of Covenanting would seem to be compared to a seeing of God;[403]
+and, also, to what corresponds with that--a seeking of his face.[404] It
+therefore follows, that the revelation of Divine truth is the revelation
+of the Everlasting Covenant; that men, in holding communion with him,
+learn concerning that Covenant; and that, in Covenanting with him, they
+take hold upon it as dispensed to men, and on it alone. By keeping the
+Sabbath, by receiving circumcision, by performing, besides, the other
+duties of the law of God, by recognising the obligations of the Church
+imposed in former times, and by entering into solemn engagements on
+their own behalf, and on behalf of their children, believers at every
+time, under former dispensations, acknowledged the Church's federal
+character; while, by recognising the Lord as their God, and acting faith
+in a Saviour then yet to come, they acknowledged that the Covenant into
+which they were taken, was that revealed and dispensed by him, and which
+was a manifestation of that to which He had acceded, who said, "Lo, I
+come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy
+will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart."[405] And after the
+work of Him who came "to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring
+in everlasting righteousness," was accomplished, the people of God, by
+observing the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, by vowing and
+swearing to him, and by attending to the other institutions of his
+grace, continue to acknowledge their faith in him, as "the Mediator of
+the New Testament," and as the "one Mediator," in whom the Covenant was
+confirmed with Abraham, and who was present with his people in
+Sinai;[406] and to manifest their decided conviction, that the
+appointment of all the means of grace, flowed from that glorious
+transaction concerning which it is said, "As for thee also, by the
+blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit
+wherein is no water."[407]
+
+First. In the Everlasting Covenant, provision was made for Covenanting
+under the Patriarchal and Levitical dispensations.
+
+The acknowledgments and conduct of believers in those times illustrate
+this. These showed an acquaintance with the subject peculiarly striking.
+Where the engagements into which Noah and his family were brought are
+spoken of, no hint is dropped that the nature or design of the duty was
+new to them. The terms in which the covenant of God was made known to
+him, would appear to have been quite familiar to him; and the alacrity
+with which he engaged in performing the rite of sacrifice, would seem to
+indicate that neither he nor his family were strangers to that, as an
+accompaniment of Covenanting. The manner in which certain distinguished
+individuals, who lived anterior to the Mosaic economy, employed and
+desired the oath, showed that the information concerning it, which must
+have been communicated by Noah and his family, had been, by some at
+least, carefully preserved. Not merely Abraham, who may have received
+special information from above concerning the exercise, but some of his
+contemporaries in the region of Canaan would appear to have known well
+the character and tendency of covenant obligation. At the death of
+Joseph, his brethren manifested a complete acquaintance with the
+subject; nor were their descendants, two hundred years after, when
+emerging from bondage, unwilling to acknowledge the debt of duty which,
+by the oath of their fathers, was imposed upon them. At the solemnities
+of Sinai, Israel would appear to have recognised the obligation of
+vowing and swearing to God, as well as that of any other requirement of
+his law. It does not appear that any one of the Hebrews of those ages
+ever thought of calling in question the duty of attending to, and
+acquiescing in, every declaration made to them through an appointed
+channel from heaven. That they were a rebellious people is beyond a
+doubt; but that fact is not inconsistent with the conclusion that, in
+consequence of the force of habit or example, they might give a verbal
+acquiescence to requirements, the importance and necessity of obeying
+which they might not feel. As others are, they were assailed from
+without and within with temptations to fail in their duty; and before
+those they fell. Most of them were under unbelief, and they would not
+obey; but when addressed by Moses, or any other servant of the Lord,
+while a wonder or miracle was wrought and duty was enjoined, testifying
+to the duty of giving obedience when God commands, however soon they
+might forget, they said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be
+obedient."[408] There is only one principle on which this intimate
+acquaintance with the claims of the service can be accounted for. The
+obligation of the duty must have been taught to man from the beginning.
+That is implied in the law which was written on his heart in innocence.
+The duty incumbent on him as a sinner must have been revealed to him
+immediately after the fall. There is no reason to suppose that, seeing
+that sacrifice and covenanting for a vast length of time, were observed
+together, they were not coeval. But however that may be, equally with
+the one, the other, in the first ages, was known; and to one fact both
+are to be traced. The duties co-ordinate in their bearings--the one
+pointing to the great propitiation, the other rocognising the claims of
+the Author of that salvation which the "One Sacrifice" was to secure,
+both have their origin in that one glorious Covenant, by which the
+method in which it should be bestowed was arranged.
+
+Provision was made through promises. Some of these were that the duty
+would be engaged in;[409] others of them, that the keeping of
+engagements made would be followed with good;[410] others, that all the
+blessings of the covenant would be bestowed.[411] The passages belonging
+to each of these classes are numerous. Containing a proposal of
+conditions on God's part, they lead directly to the duty. What is
+wanting, is the acceptance of them on the part of man. So often as they
+are read or meditated on, or pressed on sinners in the preaching of the
+gospel, the sinner is invited to take hold in God's covenant. The
+invitations addressed through them are made by the Redeemer as the
+Prophet of his Church, and as the Lord of all. They exhibit the will of
+the Father, that his people should acknowledge him as the God of grace.
+They testify to the love of the Spirit, whose work it is to lead to
+accept of them. They unfold the purposes which were of old. They are the
+echo of the promises of the Everlasting Covenant, made to the great
+Mediator between God and man.
+
+Through types. Covenanting itself is not a type or shadow, but a
+substantial reality. With many other things, however, which in some
+aspects of their character were types of good things to come, under
+other of their features it may be associated in presenting an emblem of
+what is spiritual. Thus, every institution of Divine grace may be
+understood as testifying to the excellence and necessity of every other,
+and to the reality of the exercises of the heart which ought to
+accompany their outward observance. Many things connected with the
+former dispensations, accordingly, vouch for the high origin, and
+nature, and claims of Covenanting. We contemplate them doing so, not as
+types of good things which had no existence when they occurred, but as
+emblems of good connected with vowing and swearing to God, which was
+common to every era of the history of the Church. By these, not less
+explicitly than by the voice of speech, instruction is addressed; and
+not less than the most explicit tender of good or obligation are their
+dictates to be received. Enoch, who clave to God; Noah and Abraham, each
+a covenant head; Aaron and Phinehas, each the representative of a
+Covenanted priesthood; and David, the federal head of a royal posterity;
+as individuals, were emblems of many devoted personally and socially by
+Covenant to the Lord. The Israelites, servants of God: the first-born
+among these, dedicated to the Lord: the Goel, or, Kinsman-redeemer,
+under a descending obligation to interpose in behalf of a relative: the
+voluntary bondservant, who, from love to his master and family,
+explicitly engaged himself to his service through life: sojourning
+strangers, not Canaanites, allowed and encouraged by the Israelites to
+wait on all the ordinances of religion: the Hebrew kings of David's
+family vested with rule according to a perpetual covenant: the
+Nazarites, peculiarly set apart to the service of God: the Aaronic
+priesthood, under the bond of an enduring covenant: and the Nethinims, a
+people employed about the sanctuary, descendants of the Gibeonites, who,
+though like Jacob they did not do well in the choice of means to obtain
+the blessing, were taken into covenant with God:--these were classes of
+persons who symbolized many explicitly engaged by covenant to the
+service of the Lord. The cities of refuge[412]--Kedesh, _a holy place_:
+Hebron, _society, friendship_, the end of a covenant: Shechem, _a part
+or portion_, as the lot of a covenant inheritance: Bezer, _cut off and
+broken_, as the sinner is from all vain confidences: Golan, _exile_, as
+separation from every visitation of vengeance: and Ramoth, _eminences_,
+or _high places_, as the stronghold provided in the covenant to
+prisoners of hope; true to their designations, as emblems point out the
+facts of a covenant made on behalf of many, who by sin are exposed to
+ruin. Canaan, a land of inheritance promised in covenant: Jerusalem,
+_the vision of peace_, and city of God: the tabernacle, the temple, and
+Mount Zion,--places where manifestations were made of the presence of
+God in covenant:--all denoted scenes, where his people, in every age, in
+giving themselves to the Lord, cleave unto him. The Ark prepared by Noah
+was entered by him and his house, betokening the accession of men, in
+all ages, to the covenant of God by faith in the Redeemer. The Ark of
+the Covenant, containing the book of the law: the table of shew-bread,
+representing the means of exhibiting Christ, the bread of life: the
+altar of incense, from which arose offerings, as of the praises and
+supplications of God's people, perfumed with the sweet incense of
+Christ's intercession: the golden candlestick, shedding forth light, as
+of the influences of God's Spirit: the laver, for washing, representing
+the means of purification from all defilement: the altar of
+burnt-offering, from which arose the flame of sacrifice, that betokened
+the offering of Him who made his soul a propitiation for sin; were
+sacred utensils, all of which referred to the ratification of God's
+covenant, and the dispensation of its blessings to those who are enabled
+to lay hold upon it. The Sabbath, returning every seventh day: the
+periodic feast of unleavened bread for seven days, following upon the
+Passover: the Sabbatic year, completing an interval reckoned by seven:
+the year of jubilee, occurring always after seven times seven years
+were completed; were all seasons that pointed out times of waiting upon
+the ordinances of that Covenant which was ratified by the
+oath--represented by the number of perfection that should be waited on
+in ages most remote. Typical purifications; the ordeal for freeing from
+the imputation of murder, conducted by slaying the heifer, and washing
+the hands over it, while there was made a protestation of innocence,
+that embodied an oath:[413] the means of removing ceremonial defilement
+of various kinds: and the bitter water which, according to the innocence
+or guilt of the party to whom it was administered, acted innocuously, so
+as to denote the effects of a lawful oath, or as the oath which, by
+being sworn falsely, is converted into a curse; were all of the nature
+of an appeal to God. Oblations in general; the sin and trespass
+offerings, which were never merely voluntary: the burnt-offering: the
+peace-offerings, that were wont to be presented when vows were paid: in
+particular, the offering of salt, the symbol at once of communion and
+friendship, of durability and incorruption, and of sincerity of mind,
+and which was commanded to be presented with every offering--the emblem
+of an enduring covenant:[414] the pascal lamb, which represented Christ
+slain, the blood of which was sprinkled, as his blood was, for defence
+from wrath, and the flesh of which was eaten, so as to afford a vigour
+symbolizing that of those who, having eaten of his flesh, like the hosts
+of Israel from Egypt, go forth from bondage to liberty and peace; the
+Covenant sacrifice of Abraham, consisting of the red heifer, whose ashes
+were for purification; the she-goat of three years, for a sin-offering;
+the ram for a burnt-offering; the turtle-dove and the young pigeon, for
+a purification sacrifice and for a sin-offering, intimating that not
+merely did he, as a covenant-head, represent the rich who should
+present of their flocks and herds to the Lord, but of the poor, who of
+their poverty should present offerings absolutely less valuable, but not
+the less acceptable;--these offerings pointed out that the Covenant of
+God should be laid hold upon when the shadows which preceded the
+glorious reality of the "One Sacrifice" that had been foreordained would
+have come to an end, and there should succeed sacrifices spiritual in
+their stead, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And circumcision,
+prefiguring Christ given for a covenant of the people, who, in the
+nature of man shedding his blood, should ratify God's covenant; and
+marking the people of God, sealing to them the Covenant of Grace, and
+pointing out their newness of life, regeneration, and deliverance from
+the vileness of sin, testified to the claims of obedience to the mandate
+of God in Covenant, which none could, but at the greatest peril,
+disregard. These types and others all pointed to the Redeemer. To the
+work which he had, from the days of eternity, Covenanted to perform,
+they gave prospective testimony. But of the effects of his mighty
+working upon the hearts of men, in leading them to keep his Covenant,
+they were not the less appointed symbols, nor were they less designed to
+teach that, but for the arrangements of that Covenant which had been
+made with him, there had not been made such manifestations of the power
+of his grace.
+
+Through miracles. These were wrought in order to declare how near the
+chosen of God, as a people, were brought unto him, and how great was the
+covenant provision that had been made for them. The flame of fire which
+appeared on many solemn occasions, held a signal place among these. The
+"flaming sword," or the flame that dries up, or that which burns,
+displayed between the cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden; the
+flame of fire in which the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses out of
+the midst of a bush, when He made himself known to him as the God of
+Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; the flame of fire which
+appeared on the top of Mount Sinai when the Lord made a covenant with
+Israel; the pillar of fire by night, which accompanied Israel during
+their journeyings in the wilderness; the fire which was wont to descend
+and consume, in token of the acceptance of them, the sacrifices laid on
+God's altar--all testified to the gracious nearness of God to his
+covenant people. The cherubim, emblems of the ministry of
+reconciliation, first displayed immediately after the sin of man,
+represented afterwards in the act of looking upon the ark of the
+covenant in the tabernacle and temple, presented in vision before
+Ezekiel about to be sent to the rebellious house of Israel, and which,
+though denominated seraphim, were in like manner seen by Isaiah, when
+about to go forth to proclaim messages to the same people; through many
+ages pointed out that the servants of God in his house, by his
+appointment were set apart to unfold the truths of his Covenant. The
+dividing of the waters of the Red Sea, and the passage of Israel through
+the midst of it; and the presence of the cloud, in which, as well as in
+the sea, they were baptised;[415] and the cutting off of the waters, and
+the passing over of Jordan on dry ground, after the feet of the priests
+that bare the ark rested in its stream--manifested the almighty power of
+Him who had Covenanted to bring his people to a land of inheritance. The
+provision of bread from heaven, and water from the rock in the
+wilderness, showed in part how great were the resources of Him who had
+promised to his people, but not in vain. And the miracles wrought by the
+Redeemer in our world, from the over-ruling of external nature, to the
+feeding of the hungry with food, the healing of diseases, the casting
+out of devils, the raising of the dead, and his own resurrection, taught
+that He had come to manifest his power, to give that eternal life that
+was promised in the Everlasting Covenant to all who were ordained to it.
+The subject of the import of the miracles that were wrought by Him and
+by the Holy Spirit, is exhaustless. Yet all of them are to be viewed as
+having been performed in order to the accomplishment of the Covenant's
+design.
+
+Through the teaching of the prophets. That was addressed in the name of
+the Lord as God in Covenant: to Israel as a covenant people, it was
+extended: and it embodied only the revelations of the Covenant. It
+included sketches of the history of the Covenant alone; under imagery,
+the most varied and expressive, as well as by direct explicit
+statements, it unfolded the relations subsisting between God and his
+privileged people; and, in like manner, presented the future history of
+the Church, incorporated by solemn confederation.
+
+Through the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures. The scope of these in
+general, and of many representations of them in particular, illustrates
+the bearing of every fact in the history of the Church upon the
+Covenant. As illustrations, some designations both of Christ and his
+people, may be adverted to. He is introduced as a Husband,[416] and,
+consequently, as the Head of his people, engaged to him by vow.[417] He
+is exhibited as the Captain of the Lord's host, and as a Leader and
+Commander to the people.[418] That he might be presented as at once of
+the lineage of David according to the flesh, as the author of
+everlasting righteousness, as allied in the capacity of the First-born
+among many brethren to the Church redeemed by his blood, and as the
+Builder and the Head thereof, and Head over all things to it, he is
+denominated the Branch.[419] As the Covenant of the people he is
+revealed, to denote that he is the Mediator of the Covenant, and that in
+that capacity he received the gift of the people of the Covenant,
+fulfilled its conditions by obeying the law and presenting himself as a
+covenant sacrifice, appeared as a sign of the Covenant, and was to carry
+into final effect the whole scheme of it. As the Days-Man,[420] he is
+made known, to intimate that, by Him alone, and only in a covenant
+relation, men chargeable with sin can hold communion with God. As the
+Ladder,[421] he is spoken of, to point him out as, in the natures of God
+and man, the only means of communication between earth and heaven. As a
+Witness[422] to the people, he is described to be given by the Father,
+and consequently according to his own voluntary engagement. And as
+Shiloh, he was promised, and his people thus received him as their
+Peace--provided in the Covenant.[423] And his Church is denominated his
+_portion_, and _the lot of his inheritance_. In various passages she is
+described as _peaceable_ or _perfect_, and is thus presented as in
+Covenant.[424] And as _Israel_, the _loved_ of the Lord, she appears
+under his promised protection. And, to give and conclude with one
+illustration more belonging to this place, reference may be made to two
+terms. First, _atonement_ (כפר--χαταλλαγη.) "The
+idea that seems to be expressed by this word, is that of averting some
+dreaded consequence by means of a substitutionary interposition. It thus
+fitly denotes the doctrine of salvation from sin and wrath, by a ransom
+of infinite worth." Secondly, _reconciliation_. "This term occurs in
+both the Old and New Testaments several times. But it is generally, if
+not always, used as a translation of the original words above explained.
+Indeed, as has already been remarked, it is quite synonymous with the
+term atonement, involving the same ideas and serving the same purposes.
+It supposes bringing into a state of good agreement parties who have had
+cause to be at variance, as is the case with God and his sinful creature
+man."[425] The two terms, therefore, manifestly stand connected with the
+representations given of a covenant state. The Hebrew term of which each
+of them is a translation, accordingly means both the ground of covenant
+privilege, and also that privilege enjoyed by men. The term cannot be
+interpreted independently of a reference to the Covenant of God. But for
+that Covenant, there had been no atonement. With the forgiveness of sin,
+atonement is indissolubly connected. The latter is never presented in
+Scripture without reference to the former. It was not alone the slaying
+and offering of sacrifice, but also the sprinkling of blood that made
+atonement. Where the blood was not sprinkled, sin was not put away, and
+no atonement was made. Where the blood was sprinkled, and accordingly
+sin was representatively put away, atonement was always effected. Only
+the following passage will be referred to here in corroboration of this.
+"If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand,
+to show unto man his uprightness; then he is gracious unto him, and
+saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom (an
+atonement)."[426] The reason for giving deliverance therefore was, that
+an atonement was found. Had the atonement been found for two,
+accordingly two would have been delivered. Had it been found for all,
+all would in like manner have been delivered. But all will not be
+delivered. An atonement, therefore, was not made for all. Indeed, the
+atonement was devised and effected in order to the deliverance of the
+elect alone. Had it not been for them, there would have been no
+atonement. But for them, there had been no Everlasting Covenant. And
+only for the ratification of that Covenant, the atonement was designed.
+The atonement cannot exceed the comprehension of the covenant for the
+ratification of which it was effected. As no soul will be saved that was
+not given to Christ in covenant, so no soul that was not thus given to
+him has an interest in the great atonement. "The Scriptures represent
+the divine persons as entering into a federal agreement for the
+salvation of men. In this covenant of peace, the Father is the
+representative of the Godhead, and the Son representative of those who
+are to be redeemed. He is, on this account, called the Mediator and the
+Surety of the covenant. Whatever he did as Mediator or Surety, must,
+therefore, have been done in connection with the covenant. His death was
+the condition of the covenant. It was stipulated, as the condition of
+his having a seed to serve him, that he should make his soul an offering
+for sin; that he should bear their iniquities; that he should pour out
+his soul unto death. In reference to this, the blood of the ancient
+sacrifices was called _the blood of the covenant_, while of his own, the
+Saviour testifies, this cup is the new testament in my blood. The blood
+of Christ was not shed by accident, it was not poured out at random or
+on a venture. No: he laid down his life by covenant. The terms of the
+covenant must, therefore, define the designed extent of the objects of
+his death. If all mankind are included in the covenant,--if the Surety
+of the covenant represented, in this eternal transaction, the whole
+human race, then the atonement of Christ must have been indefinite. But
+if the children of the covenant, as is admitted, are only a given
+specified number of the human family, then must the atonement of the
+Mediator be restricted to _them_. There seems no evading this inference.
+To give the designed objects of the Saviour's atonement a greater
+extension than the covenant of grace, is to nullify its character as the
+stipulated condition of the covenant, and to render nugatory and
+unavailing the consolatory address by which the heart of many an
+awakened sinner has been soothed. 'Behold the blood of the
+covenant.'"[427]
+
+Secondly, and lastly. In the Everlasting Covenant, provision was made
+for Covenanting under the last or present dispensation.
+
+This was practically acknowledged by believers in the apostolic age. The
+common fund that was raised from the contributions of the Church
+assembled and addressed by Peter on the day of Pentecost, was devoted by
+solemn vows. From what was said by that Apostle to Ananias and Sapphira
+his wife, this appears. "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to
+lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
+While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it
+not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine
+heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." "How is it that ye
+have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?"[428] If a promise
+or vow to God to give up their substance had not been made, the language
+of reproof addressed to them would have been inapplicable. It is true,
+that when one lies to men, he disobeys God. But the language, "thou hast
+not lied unto men, but unto God," must intimate that the possession of
+the two individuals had been, either publicly before their brethren, or
+secretly, or in both ways, vowed to God. The conclusion is corroborated
+by the obvious consideration, that the practice of acting in this
+manner, although not to such an extent, was quite in accordance with
+that of vowing things to God under the dispensation that had then been
+brought to a close; and especially by the very language of Peter,
+"Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it
+not in thine own power?" precisely agreeing with the words of the Old
+Testament record, "But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin
+in thee." Again, the practices of making _confession_, and of
+_professing_, which we have found to be in reality the making of
+Covenant engagements, would appear from the references made to them by
+the inspired writers, to have been ordinary occurrences of their times.
+And, lastly, the conduct of the Macedonian Churches, in giving
+themselves to the Lord, to which we have had occasion to refer, is
+worthy of being remembered as an authenticated source of Covenanting in
+those times, that had been performed by many, in one of the spheres
+where the truth had most manifestly taken effect.
+
+The practice was provided for through the direct injunctions of the last
+inspired writers. These, dissuading from idolatry,[429] taught the
+necessity of the practice, the reverse of that, of recognising God and
+acknowledging him by vowing and swearing to him as a covenant God.
+Teaching the necessity of faith and other graces, they showed that it is
+dutiful to engage in that and those other exercises in which these are
+requisite. They explicitly enjoin the exercise of Covenanting.[430]
+Inculcating the holding fast of the Christian _profession_,[431] an
+apostle teaches that such a profession should not merely be adhered to,
+but also made. And delivering the express words of the Redeemer, the
+last of the apostles, teaching the duty of entering into covenant
+engagements, and keeping them till Christ should come, tendered the
+command, "But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come."[432]
+
+The practice was provided for through the whole of the New Testament
+writings.
+
+The New Testament contains the same kinds of expression in reference to
+the Covenant of God as the Old, and employs them for the same purpose as
+that for which those statements of that Testament are used. It makes use
+of figurative and other language of the same origin as that of the Old
+Testament, for the purpose of inculcating nothing else than the keeping
+of the Covenant.
+
+By an apostle, there is strikingly brought into view the truth taught in
+the prophets,--that the Lord created, or formed, or fore-ordained, a
+people, to enter into Covenant with him, and by obedience also,
+otherwise to keep it.[433]
+
+The imagery of the _foundation_[434] employed in prophecy to point out
+Christ, and the sureness and continuance of the Covenant, is also used
+by two apostles for the same purpose. Their references to it illustrate
+the doctrine, that, in the New Testament, types, though realized in
+Christ, and also partly illustrated in the blessings at any time
+bestowed by Him, are not to be disregarded but studied, that the good
+things prefigured by them, but as yet unattained, may be enjoyed.
+
+The designation of the Holy Spirit, as the "Spirit _of promise_,"[435]
+teaches that He was given in consequence of the arrangements of the
+Covenant of God; and consequently, that all the benefits bestowed on
+believers, not merely in Old but also in New Testament times, were to
+come to them in connection with the acceptance of the gift of the
+Spirit, as included in the promise of the Covenant.
+
+The idea of _reconciliation_, dwelt on by the apostles, necessarily
+implies the notion of a covenant agreement, as being not merely made but
+maintained, between God and men--once exposed to his curse, but
+afterwards put in possession of an interest in the atonement of Christ.
+
+References made by the apostles to _purification_ cannot be explained
+independently of the principle of, a covenant ratified by the blood of
+Christ being the channel of the communication of faith and the other
+graces, and of sanctification--that results from the implantation,
+support, and direction of these by the Holy Ghost.
+
+The _sprinkling_, whether of blood or of water, referring to the
+operation of the Spirit, is introduced by an apostle as enjoyed by those
+who take hold on God's covenant.[436]
+
+Even as circumcision was, _baptism_ is, a sign and seal of the Covenant
+of Grace.[437]
+
+In the _Lord's Supper_, the bread is a symbol of the body of
+Christ--broken in the sufferings endured by him on behalf of his people;
+and the wine is a symbol of his blood--shed for the remission of their
+sins. Commemorating the Redeemer's dying love, and receiving a seal of
+all the benefits of his death, by partaking of these elements according
+to his command, they signify the actings of their faith on him in an act
+of Covenanting.[438]
+
+Preaching peace, Christ, and after him his apostles and other servants
+in the ministry of the gospel,[439] proclaimed the Covenant of Peace,
+and urged the duty of acceding to it; and speaking peace to his
+disciples,[440] He declared it to be his prerogative to bestow on all
+his people the blessings of that Covenant.
+
+The Redeemer, foretelling his address to be delivered at the day of
+judgment to his enemies of all ages of the world,--"I never knew you:
+depart from me," intimated that he would not recognise them as covenant
+children; and declaring of his people,--"I am the good Shepherd, and
+know my sheep, and am known of mine," he taught that they know him, as
+they alone do who take hold on God's covenant.[441]
+
+Allusions to the seal imply the doctrine of Covenanting. The
+declaration,--"He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal
+that God is true,"[442] refers to a solemn covenant attestation to the
+truth.
+
+The people of God designating the Redeemer, as the "_High Priest of our
+profession_,"[443] recognise him as bestowing grace upon them, to take
+hold on God's covenant, and to continue to cleave to it.
+
+In the Epistles, there is distinctly brought into view an _inheritance_
+which is not else than the blessings provided in God's covenant, and
+appropriated in adhering to it.[444]
+
+The designations,--"Children of the kingdom,"[445] "Followers of God as
+dear children,"[446] "Friends (of Christ),"[447] "Heirs of God,"[448]
+"God's heritage,"[449] "the bride, the Lamb's wife,"[450]
+"Perfect,"[451] or possessed of integrity, healthful, safe, willing,
+complete, "sanctified," are all calculated to point out the covenant
+relation and privileges, and duties, of the people of God; and,
+accordingly, to show that by special explicit engagements they should
+devote themselves to him; and the representation of the Church as the
+"Pillar and ground (stay) of the truth,"[452] teaches that her duty is
+to make an unequivocal and steadfast public profession of Divine truth.
+
+The Covenant of God, from the last dispensation being introduced as the
+"New Covenant," and as one of the covenants of promise,[453] is
+represented by the last inspired writers as extended, both in regard to
+its blessings and its duties, to the latest times.[454]
+
+And, by some of the evangelists and apostles, the Covenant of God is
+exhibited as a testament. By them the dispensations of Divine mercy to
+men, are represented as being each both a covenant and a testament. By
+them are applied such representations to each of the dispensations--both
+to the former dispensations, and to the last of them. The conclusion,
+therefore, to which we are brought by them is, that each, as a
+testament, is essentially an exhibition of a corresponding covenant, or
+a given dispensation of one covenant. The truth is, that the Covenant of
+God, under each dispensation, includes in it a testament, or that every
+dispensation of grace, whether in former times, or in the last times,
+viewed as a testament, is a covenant. Every testament is a covenant, and
+each of those dispensations is at once a testament and the Covenant of
+God. Take first the present dispensation. A testament, like every
+covenant, has a stipulation, or promise and demand; in both, good is
+offered, and duty required. In this dispensation, the blessings of God's
+favour are offered, and obedience to the law of Christ is required; it
+has, therefore, _one_ character, both of a covenant and of a testament.
+A testament, like every covenant, when acceded to, has a re-stipulation,
+or engagement corresponding to the stipulation. In the present
+dispensation, when the overtures of Divine grace are acceded to, there
+is tendered an acceptance of Christ and all his benefits, and the
+promise of obedience in dependence on his strength. It has, therefore,
+_another_ mark common to both a testament and a covenant. A testament
+and a covenant have alike a seal or ratification. The seal of the
+testament is not valid till the death of the testator; the overtures of
+Divine mercy were ratified or sealed by the death of Christ. The present
+dispensation has, therefore, the _third_ and last mark both of a
+testament and of a covenant. It has, consequently, all the
+characteristics of a testament, and of a dispensation of the Covenant of
+Grace. It must, therefore, now appear how the idea of the present
+dispensation being a covenant is contemplated in the New Testament, even
+while it is described as a testament. The coincidence between a
+covenant, and a testament as a particular case of it, explains how the
+Greek term διχθηχη capable of being rendered sometimes by
+the word _testament_, and, at others, by the word _covenant_; and shews
+the error of the insinuation, so derogatory of the inspiration of the
+Scriptures, that the Apostle Paul, finding that this Greek term, which
+is used for _covenant_, meant, in some connections, a _testament_,
+therefore proceeded to unfold the covenant of God as a testament. The
+reason why the apostle, guided by inspiration, exhibited the Covenant of
+God as a testament, was, that it is in reality a testament. Yea, the
+fact that that covenant is a testament, must have been the reason why,
+even before the days of the apostle, even that Greek word had, from
+direct or indirect communication between the Greeks and the Israelites,
+acquired the twofold import. Hence, besides, it is doing no service to
+the interpretation of the Scriptures, to attempt to shew that in the
+passage of the Epistle to the Hebrews,[455] where the covenant is
+represented as a testament, either that the term διαθηχη
+there, must have only the meaning _testament_, or that it must be
+rendered _covenant_ exclusively throughout. In some parts of the passage
+it means the one, in others the other, in others both. It means both in
+the original of the passage, "And for this cause he is the Mediator of
+the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
+transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are
+called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." It means a
+testament in that of the following, "For where a testament is, there
+must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is
+of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while
+the testator liveth." In the original of the words, "Whereupon neither
+the first (_testament_ understood) was dedicated without blood," it
+means properly a covenant ratified by the blood of sacrifice, and,
+consequently, a testament. And it means both in the original of the
+words that follow, "This is the blood of the testament which God hath
+enjoined unto you." The parallelism between the death of the testator
+and the shedding of the blood of the covenant, is beautiful, and it
+cannot be destroyed. In the case of the death of Christ, it becomes an
+identity. The death of the testator is there the shedding of the blood
+of the covenant!
+
+We have seen that the last dispensation is both a covenant and a
+testament; but so was the former. The blood of sacrifice was typical at
+once of the blood of the Mediator, and of his death as the great
+Testator. The blessings of his purchase in the first ages were, even as
+in the last, testamentary. They were not reversionary, but no less by
+bequest and no less sure than they had been had he, whose death by
+sacrifice was continually pointed out antecedently, really died.
+
+In conclusion, from the whole,
+
+It is manifest, that to represent Covenanting as a mere Jewish thing, is
+an error. It was engaged in before the father of the Hebrew race was
+called. It was practised when the Levitical economy was on the verge of
+dissolution, and attended to in the apostolic age by churches that were
+not subjected to its peculiar institutes. It was provided for the
+Church, whether existing in Old or New Testament times. It was
+independent of the peculiarities of the former dispensations, though it
+attracted to itself the performance of their characteristic observances.
+It was by Covenanting that the Church was incorporated; by it the Church
+has been hitherto kept distinct from the world; and by it, throughout
+all time, she will prove herself to be the heir of the Covenant promise
+of God, made from eternity, and to be bestowed in time and eternity to
+come.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[365] Heb. xiii. 20.
+
+[366] Ps. xc. 2.
+
+[367] Prov. viii. 23.
+
+[368] Mic. v. 2.
+
+[369] Ps. lxxxix. 3, 28.
+
+[370] Is. liii. 10-12.
+
+[371] Is. xlii. 21.
+
+[372] Rom. v. 15-19. 1 Cor. xv. 47-49.
+
+[373] Is. lix. 21.
+
+[374] Gen. vi. 18; xvii. 7; Lev. xxvi. 9; Ezek. xvi. 62.
+
+[375] Deut. xxviii. 9; xxix. 13.
+
+[376] Is. xlix. 8.
+
+[377] Ps. lxxxix. 4.
+
+[378] Jer. xxx. 20-22.
+
+[379] Ezek. xxxiv. 24; xxxvii. 24, 25.
+
+[380] Ps. xxii. 28.
+
+[381] Heb. x. 19-23.
+
+[382] Compare Ps. ii. 8, and Deut. xxxii. 9.
+
+[383] Is. viii. 18, and Heb. ii. 13.
+
+[384] Jer. iii. 19.
+
+[385] Ps. xxii. 30.
+
+[386] Eph. i. 4.
+
+[387] Jer. xxxi. 3.
+
+[388] John xv. 5.
+
+[389] Heb. xiii. 15.
+
+[390] 2 Thess. ii. 13.
+
+[391] Is. xxviii. 15-18, and 1 Pet. ii. 6-10.
+
+[392] Phil. ii. 11.
+
+[393] Col. ii. 6, 7.
+
+[394] Ps. viii. 2, and Matt. xxi. 16.
+
+[395] Ps. xcvi. 6.
+
+[396] Is. xlvi. 13.
+
+[397] Rom. iv. 9, 10, 11.
+
+[398] Gal. iii. 14, 15.
+
+[399] Gal. iii 17.
+
+[400] Compare Heb. xiii. 20, and Is. liii. 10-12.
+
+[401] See Is. xxi. 2; xxix. 11. In the latter of these passages it may
+mean both a revelation and a covenant.
+
+[402] Is. xxviii. 18.
+
+[403] Is. xxxiii. 17.
+
+[404] Ps. xxvii. 8.
+
+[405] Ps. xl. 7, 8.
+
+[406] Compare Ps. lxiii. 17, 18, with Eph. iv. 8.
+
+[407] Zech. ix. 11.
+
+[408] Exod. xxiv. 7.
+
+[409] Ezek. xvi. 60, 62.
+
+[410] Ps. xix. 11.
+
+[411] Gal. iii. 18.
+
+[412] Job xx. 7, 8.
+
+[413] Deut. xxi. 4-8.
+
+[414] 2 Chron. xiii. 5.
+
+[415] 1 Cor. x. 1, 2.
+
+[416] Is. liv. 5.
+
+[417] Jer. xxxi. 32.
+
+[418] Josh. v. 15; Is. lv. 4.
+
+[419] Zech. iii. 8; vi. 12, 13; Jer. xxiii. 5, 6.
+
+[420] Job ix. 33.
+
+[421] Gen. xxviii. 12.
+
+[422] Is. lv. 4.
+
+[423] Eph. ii. 14.
+
+[424] Is. xxxii. 18; Is. xlii. 19.
+
+[425] "The Atonement and Intercession of Jesus Christ." By the Rev. Dr.
+William Symington. 2d Ed., pp. 9, 10, 11.
+
+[426] Job xxxiii. 23, 24.
+
+[427] "Atonement and Intercession," pp. 257, 258.
+
+[428] Acts v. 3, 4, 9.
+
+[429] 1 Cor. x. 14; 1 John v. 21.
+
+[430] Rom. xii. 1; Rom. vi. 13.
+
+[431] Heb. iv. 14; x. 23.
+
+[432] Rev. ii. 25.
+
+[433] Compare Eph. ii. 10, with Is. xliv. 2.
+
+[434] Eph. ii. 20, 21; 1 Pet. ii. 5-10.
+
+[435] Eph. i. 13.
+
+[436] Heb. x. 22.
+
+[437] Rom. iv. 11, and Col. ii. 11, 12.
+
+[438] 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.
+
+[439] Eph. ii. 17, and Rom. x. 15.
+
+[440] John xiv. 27.
+
+[441] Is. xix. 21.
+
+[442] John iii. 33.
+
+[443] Heb. iii. 1.
+
+[444] Col. iii. 24, and 1 Pet. i. 4, 5.
+
+[445] Mat. xiii. 38.
+
+[446] Eph. v. 1.
+
+[447] John xv. 14.
+
+[448] Rom. viii. 17.
+
+[449] 1 Pet. v. 3.
+
+[450] Rev. xxi. 9.
+
+[451] Philip, iii. 15.
+
+[452] 1 Tim. iii. 15.
+
+[453] Heb. viii. 13; Eph. ii. 12
+
+[454] Heb. ix. 15.
+
+[455] Heb. ix. 15-20.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+COVENANTING ADAPTED TO THE MORAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN.
+
+
+The law of God originates in his nature, but the attributes of his
+creatures are due to his sovereignty. The former is, accordingly, to be
+viewed as necessarily obligatory on the moral subjects of his
+government, and the latter--which are all consistent with the holiness
+of the Divine nature, are to be considered as called into exercise
+according to his appointment. Hence, also, the law of God is independent
+of his creatures, though made known on their account; but the operation
+of their attributes behove to be regulated according to that law. The
+principles of eternal holiness, embodied in the law, necessarily existed
+because of the eternity and infinite glory of God; but would not have
+been made the basis of a law had creatures not been formed. The
+constitution of creatures who should be called to give obedience, was
+wholly due to the will of God, but in perfect harmony with the spirit of
+his commands. Moral creatures having been formed, the law of God speaks
+one language to all of them. They, possessed of different characteristic
+attributes, alike recognise its appeals. Angels have a constitution
+which distinguishes them from man, yet with him they apprehend the
+authority of the one moral law. Over a range, therefore, of infinite
+extent, the principles of eternal rectitude are maintained. Man, in
+innocence, recognised them. Man, redeemed, cleaves to them according to
+his attainments in grace. Angels, possessed of a nature different from
+that of man, acknowledge their obligation upon them. And God himself,
+distant from his highest moral offspring by a difference that is
+infinite, exhibits them as a manifestation of his holiness, and the
+principles according to which he acts towards his creatures. Much,
+therefore, in common belongs to the constitution of the moral natures of
+angels and men, and necessarily proceeds from and accords with the
+nature of God. His law, we have seen, inculcates the duty of
+Covenanting. From what has been said, we would, therefore, conclude that
+the constitution of man was fitted to that exercise. That it was so
+appears, moreover, from other considerations now to be adduced.
+
+Covenanting was adapted to the moral constitution of man in innocence.
+
+First. From the Scripture account of that constitution this appears. In
+this manner he is there represented--"God created man in his own image,
+in the image of God created he him."[456] "God hath made man
+upright."[457] These declarations imply that man was created at least
+"in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness," and accordingly, in
+conformity with the will of God, as to his intellect, his affections,
+his conscience, and will. When brought into existence, his intellectual
+and moral powers were full grown, and his knowledge was suited to the
+state of a creature fitted to hold communion with God. His intellect was
+fitted completely to survey, according to its capacity, the whole scene
+of natural and moral existence presented before it, from the lowest
+stage of dependent being to what it was competent to him to know of God.
+His affections, in a flame alike pure and ardent, glowed at the prospect
+of moral excellence which appeared in the works of God, and above all,
+in Himself. His conscience, tender as the perfection of a delicate
+spiritual organisation worthy the creative energy of a Being of spotless
+infinite holiness, was in perfect sympathy with the awards of that
+perfection of judgment which, from eternity to eternity, is unchanged.
+And his will, the mighty gift, emblem of the volition of the Giver,
+approved what He decreed. With such capacities, accompanied with
+corresponding knowledge of the external world and the internal man, and
+with a perfect acquaintance with the nature and demands of God's law,
+the favoured creature man could not but acquiesce in it. To the claims
+of its glorious Author, put forth by it, he was led by the most sure,
+and yet most gentle and delightful constraints, to give his
+acquiescence. What it demanded as duty to God, and duty to man, as if
+bound, yet free, he joyously proffered and endeavoured to give. What it
+forbade, he, in the same spirit, desired not to attain to, but resolved
+to reject. That law required, in its first command, the avouchment of
+God as a God in Covenant; in its second, it demanded the same, in
+anticipation of whatever evil--such as the inroads of satan, might tempt
+to lead from him; in its third, it claimed the fulfilment of the duty of
+solemn appeal to the I Am by oath; in its ninth, it required the
+speaking of truth to man, and consequently, the public avouchment of God
+as a God in Covenant before others; and in entering into Covenant with
+him, the favoured creature man, to all these and the other statutes of
+that law, from his holy nature, gave his adherence. In his nature, as a
+living personification of finite excellence, designed to transact with
+God, and rendered fit to adhere to his engagements, and true to the
+constitutional character of his existence, in the presence of his
+glorious Lord he stood a being in Covenant with him. Had there even not
+been a representative phase of character provided for Adam, he had,
+therefore, necessarily, from his very constitution, been in Covenant
+with God. A law was made known to him by the great Creator and Ruler; a
+willingness to accept of it as a guide to duty, manifested by receiving
+it, was given to him. To the formation of a covenant, though any other
+condition that God should propose might be added, nothing more was
+necessary. The covenant due to this was embodied in that which, as we
+shall presently see was, at his creation, in sovereignty made with him.
+
+Secondly. This appears from the fact, that the law of God to man in
+innocence, was given in a covenant form. From the very origin of his
+existence, Adam was placed under law to God, both as an individual, and
+as the representative head of the human family. Under both aspects of
+his condition he was, accordingly, amenable to that law; nay, more, to
+that law in a covenant form.
+
+To him, as an individual, it was promulgated, not merely as a law but as
+a covenant. It could not have been proclaimed to him as the federal head
+of others, had it not conferred obligation upon him as a moral agent,
+responsible for his own actions. Now, the law that was given to him in
+his twofold character was, in reality, a condition of a covenant. Both
+the positive precept and the statutes of the decalogue unfolded what was
+designed as a covenant claim. The command to obey, implying the command
+to agree to obey, is an injunction to enter into covenant, and,
+therefore, itself the condition of a covenant, to be constituted in the
+acquiescence of the creature addressed. The giving of any command to
+man, therefore, in a state of innocence, was a recognition of him as a
+creature on his constitution designed, and, in the providence of God, to
+be called, to enter into covenant with him. But this conclusion is
+corroborated by the very matter of the moral law itself. We have seen
+that several of the precepts of that law require the observance of
+entering into covenant. These commands could not have been obeyed as the
+dictates of God's laws, had the duty of Covenanting not been performed.
+And that duty could not have been performed otherwise than in the
+recognition of the commands of the law as the conditions of a Covenant.
+From other considerations this also appears. We are warranted to
+maintain that the covenant of God dispensed to men is in reality a
+covenant. But the positive precept forbidding man to eat of the tree of
+knowledge of good and evil, is inculcated in the very same terms in
+which the Covenant of God is enjoined. Both are spoken of as commanded.
+"And the Lord God commanded (יצו) the man, saying, Of every
+tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the
+knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it."[458] "He hath
+commanded (צוה) his covenant for ever."[459] A law, when
+promulgated, cannot but be commanded. A covenant when revealed, as we
+here see, is commanded. We should, therefore, take an unwarrantably
+circumscribed view of the law given to man at first, were we to view it
+as given as a law, but not as a covenant. Even as the matter of the law
+revealed at Sinai was an exhibition of the provisions of the Covenant of
+Grace, so that of the law given to man in innocence was the condition of
+the Covenant of Works. It was not merely by the promise, but also by the
+gift of life, that the positive law was converted into the nature of a
+covenant. By that promise, indeed, the Covenant of Works was
+distinguished; that showed the unspeakably beneficent design of the
+great Creator, and formed the most powerful motive to obedience. But the
+making of that promise was not essential to the existence of a covenant
+between the parties. By the giving of that promise, God indeed became,
+by explicit intimation, engaged to man; but by giving to his creature
+capacities for enjoying good, and desiring it, he virtually engaged to
+give him what was to be beneficial for him, so long as He should
+choose. Adam was in the enjoyment of good when God revealed to him his
+law. God addressed him, not as one who might be doubtful whether or not
+he should receive good from his hand, but as one in possession of powers
+and capacities even then appropriating extensive benefits. His
+delighting himself in God--the highest good that he could enjoy, though
+no explicit promise of good had been made to him, would have been a
+token to him that he was in covenant. But the promise in which that good
+was implied rendered the anticipation of it definite, both as to time
+and duration.
+
+Again, the law of God was given both as a law and as a covenant to Adam,
+as the representative of the human race. Though the giving of the
+positive precept put him into a covenant state as a federal head, and
+though by breaking it he fell, and in consequence of his sin they fell
+in him, yet it is unwarrantable to maintain that the duty of abstaining
+from the tree of life was the only condition of the covenant to be
+observed by him as the public covenant head of his descendants. What
+would have been his condition had he neglected any other duty incumbent
+on him? Would he not have been depraved as an individual personally
+guilty? and accordingly seeing that he that offends in one point is
+guilty of all, would he not have been unworthy of representing his
+posterity, or in consequence of his depravity would he not have resolved
+to eat of the tree of life, and thus have exposed himself to the stroke
+of Divine indignation, and have been cut off? As, had he existed alone,
+he would from the very constitution of his nature have been under
+covenant obligation to perform whatever duties his Creator might have
+made known to him, so in his public character, his obedience to the law
+of God on his own behalf and towards the fulfilment of the peculiar
+duties connected with his relation to his descendants, was due as
+required by covenant. As one with his posterity he was bound by
+requirements that would have brought them under obligation. Feeling
+himself commanded to obey on behalf of many of whom he himself was one,
+no less than as if he had acted in an individual capacity, did he or
+could he recognise his obligations to acquiesce in duty prescribed, nor
+less was he called and urged solemnly by covenant to engage to them.
+
+Accordingly, man in his original condition, was, from his constitution,
+engaged in covenant to God by his law. By a twofold bond, the obligation
+laid upon him was imposed. The authority of God requiring obedience was
+one of the bonds. The authority of God requiring fulfilment of an
+engagement made according to his command was the other. The giving of
+the law implied the disposition of the constitution of man to respond to
+its appeal, and demonstrated that both were of God. Seeing that He
+determined to create moral subjects on earth, his arrangements provided
+that he should make them disposed to acquiesce in that law; and hence,
+so long as man continued to possess the moral standing in which he was
+placed at first, he must have had an impression that by the constitution
+which had been given him, God was engaged to bestow good upon him, which
+he was brought under obligation by Covenanting to accept.
+
+Covenanting is adapted to the moral constitution of man in a state of
+grace.
+
+First. Inasmuch as gracious capacities lead to acquiescence in what God
+requires. All the powers of man, either directly or indirectly, were
+injured and misdirected by the fall. The range of the intellect was
+circumscribed, and its power was diminished. The affections were
+deadened, and subjected to unholy influence; the conscience became
+callous, and unfit to testify for God as it had formerly done; and the
+will was exercised to do only evil, and that continually. From the moral
+nature of man proceeded all the evils that overtook his constitution in
+consequence of sin. That suffered the taint of a depravity that exposed
+the sinner to ruin; and the curse of the broken law went out through it,
+to mar and destroy. Man by nature is degraded, because he is chargeable
+with original and actual sin, and because he wills not to obey God. Of
+every characteristic of a creature in covenant with him, he is
+destitute. Between the tendencies of his nature, and the demands of the
+Divine law, there is no correspondence. "The carnal mind is enmity
+against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
+be."[460] But in the day of effectual calling, a complete change is
+produced upon the moral tendencies of the soul. Before that, there was
+applicable to it the description, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might
+have life."[461] Afterwards it uses the language, "It is good for me to
+draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may
+declare all thy works."[462] Men in sin have addressed to them the
+mandate, "Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see."[463] Men
+renewed, do each say, "I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he
+will speak peace unto his people;"[464] "I will look unto the Lord, I
+will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me."[465] To the
+wicked is addressed the reproof, "O ye sons of men, how long will ye
+turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after
+leasing?"[466] To the righteous belongs the description, "that join
+themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the
+Lord."[467] Of unbelievers, it is declared, "Even their mind and
+conscience is defiled."[468] But of those who live by faith, it is said,
+"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
+offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
+works to serve the living God?"[469] Of those who, though professedly
+the people of God, were but hypocrites, the record is given, "But my
+people would not hearken to my voice: and Israel would none of me."[470]
+But concerning those who had submitted to him, an apostle gave the
+testimony, "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
+good pleasure."[471] Thus, those who are born again, are rendered fit to
+lay hold upon the proposals of God's goodness and mercy through Christ.
+Such are a people made willing in a day of power. Corruption continues
+within them, but it is subdued. They delight in the law of God after the
+inward man. To the requirement of a covenant like that of works, their
+resolutions and endeavours are alike inadequate. Under the dispensations
+of Divine grace, however, no proposals of any covenant designed to
+confer life through their own obedience is made to them. It is on a
+covenant, the conditions of which were fully satisfied by One infinitely
+qualified for his work, that they are invited to take hold, and the
+powers conferred upon them correspond to the exercise. Imperfection
+marks the nature of the Christian, even throughout all his earthly
+career; but the means to be employed by him in making covenant
+engagements to the Lord, do not less accord to his new covenant relation
+to him, than those made by him in innocence, did to his first covenant
+state; and not less are his gracious powers and faculties suited to the
+one, than the original gifts conferred upon him, were adapted to the
+other.
+
+Secondly. Inasmuch as the invitations to accede to the Covenant of Grace
+are tendered to sinners, and through the operation of the Spirit are
+accepted by those who are born again.
+
+The offering of free favour to man must imply the possibility of him,
+aided in some manner, accepting it. Had the rational nature of man been
+destroyed by the fall, then a re-organization of him must have preceded
+the reception on his part of the benefits offered. But regeneration, and
+not re-organization, is experienced by him when he is enabled to lay
+hold of God's Covenant. The former, not less wondrous, perhaps more
+wondrous than the latter would have been, brings the sinful creature
+from the state of one exposed to the curse of the law, as both a
+covenant and a law, to that of one engaged to the duties of a permanent
+covenant. By regeneration, the intellectual character of the human mind
+is not changed, nor thereby are changed the conscience and affections
+and capacity to will. By that the personal identity of the sinner is not
+altered; for it is the same being that sinned who is saved. But by that
+the tendencies of the moral nature are changed, and modifications most
+important are produced upon the operation of the powers of the whole
+man;--in one word, the heart in being brought under gracious influence
+is renewed, and thus is made to possess the character of a new heart.
+Thus, the understanding that was formerly darkened and misdirected is
+enlightened; those affections that were sinful are sanctified; the
+conscience is made tender; and the will which was opposed to God is made
+to acquiesce in his; the enmity in the heart, like a foreign substance
+which had not annihilated the nature, but which had assumed dominion
+over the whole man, and exercised a power for which he was answerable,
+is displaced; and corruption, though not altogether removed, is
+gradually bereft of its influence, and doomed to extermination. It is
+not as if man in sin were altogether ignorant of what God requires, but
+because he is unwilling to obey, that he does not yield it. His
+disobedience is not as if that requirement were inconsistent with his
+natural powers, but as opposed by their tendency. It is not as if
+obedience were foreign to his nature, but because it is repugnant to his
+will. But when the sinner is renewed, the requirement of the duty takes
+effect. The result upon the man proclaims the adaptation of the claim to
+his state; and the nature of that claim shows that he is prepared for
+the exercise which it urges. The law of God demands of all what all
+ought to give, but what man, in consequence of sin, because he is
+unwilling, is unable to give. That law demands of all what believers are
+desirous to render, but which of themselves they are unable to
+implement, and the part of which that is accepted they are enabled by
+Divine grace alone to perform. Calls to the exercise of Covenanting
+addressed to men, whether in a state of sin or in a state of grace,
+though differently apprehended by them, being in a varied manner
+understood by both, must be in accordance with what is common to the
+nature of each, and also to that of man in innocence. The wicked show
+that they know what these calls imply; for they often refuse to attend
+to them after any manner, and when they attempt to act according to
+them, they aim at an end that is not elevated above deliverance merely
+from the effects of sin, not to say comprehensive of the glory of God.
+And the righteous do in measure understand them. After some manner they
+obey them. They arrive at their full import progressively. Their
+feelings are inadequate to them, not in kind, but in measure. As they
+make progress in holiness they will be more thoroughly conformed to them
+in fact. When about to enter upon the heavenly inheritance of the
+promise itself, their conformity with these will be complete. Hence,
+
+First. The reality of the Covenant of Works appears. It was not unworthy
+of God to enter into covenant with man in innocence. He was the
+workmanship of his own hands. The constitution given to him admitted of
+intercourse on his part with his Creator. It was not unbecoming the
+dignity of God's character to give to man a law. It was becoming his
+character to give him a moral constitution that would lead him to obey
+it. It was equally becoming the glory of his nature to accept of
+obedience to it. His entering into covenant with him was the accepting
+of Covenanting--a part of that obedience, and was therefore in perfect
+consistency with the excellency of His being. It is not allowable to
+suppose that in order to a covenant relation between God and his
+creatures, these should be able to give something of their own which
+might be esteemed as a meritorious condition of a covenant; nor is it
+warrantable to maintain that because man in innocence was unable to make
+such a communication, therefore he was not in that state taken into
+covenant. Neither man in innocence, nor man in a state of grace, was
+required to make such a tender; nay, no creature is able to afford it.
+If it is admitted, then, that a covenant exists between God and man
+redeemed on the footing of the merits of the Saviour, how can it be
+denied that man in innocence could be taken into a covenant with God on
+account of the merit or worth of Himself as the Creator and righteous
+moral Governor of all? In the case of the Covenant of Grace, the merit
+on account of which man is accepted was displayed in a manifestation of
+the mercy of God in the obedience and sufferings of Christ. In the case
+of what is rightly held to have been a covenant between God and Adam as
+the representative of the human family, the merit for which man was
+accepted was not his own, but the merit or worth of the Divine character
+exhibited, in giving him a constitution fitting him for acquiescing in
+what the Divine law required, and in affording him every facility for
+glorifying God by yielding obedience to all his commands.
+
+And, besides, various are the considerations that tend to show, that
+from the constitution of man there is reason to conclude that the
+representative character and state that are attributed to Adam as a
+covenant head, and therefore also what is called the Covenant of
+Works,--though in a certain sense a covenant of grace--but not of grace
+through a mediator, are not inconsistent with the glory of the Divine
+character.
+
+It would not have been inconsistent with the glory of God to have made
+any one of the human family its representative head. No one of them
+would have refused to represent their race. And since therefore Adam
+would not have refused, it is not warrantable, on the assumption that he
+would have refused, to deny that he was commanded to undertake the
+duties of a federal head.
+
+The interests of men were better provided for on the principle of
+representation than they would have been, had it been given to every
+member of the human family individually to undergo a trial, on which
+would have pended their eternal condition. Had the whole human family
+been together when sin entered into the world, they had all been as
+liable to seduction by the enemy as the first of men. But the resistance
+of him by Adam would have been equal to the resistance of the whole
+human race. Had all the human family at once been present in the very
+circumstances of temptation in which Adam was placed, would they have
+acted differently from what he did? They could have done so; but what
+evidence have we that they would? God did not vouchsafe an extraordinary
+power in order to keep Adam from falling: such would have interfered
+with his state as a free moral responsible being. Would he have done so,
+then, to the whole human race, had they been then present together? But
+had Adam continued for an appointed period to obey, life to all his
+posterity would have been the result, and thus benefits through one as a
+representative would have come to the many with certainty, without all
+having individually, by being put into a state of probation, in the
+midst of temptation, to endeavour to secure a title to life for
+themselves. It is sinful for men to arraign the procedure according to
+which men come into the world in a state of condemnation, or to deny it.
+The Scriptures reveal it, and it is a necessary effect of the operation
+of Divine justice. Had it not been right, God would not have instituted
+such a relation between Adam and his descendants as would have admitted
+of the fact; nay, had not that arrangement in itself been preferable to
+every other, Divine wisdom would not have made it. It therefore has a
+reason for it the most satisfactory, however little we may be able to
+apprehend it. Nothing that we know is inconsistent with that
+arrangement, but it may be but a small part of its reason that we yet
+observe. Man was not doomed, but permitted to fall. It was not necessary
+that he should be prevented from sinning, and his fall was the necessary
+effect of his transgression. Is it urged--Is it not dreadful to think of
+man being brought into existence in a state of sin and misery?--of a
+nature being given to him which never had the power to make one
+endeavour to live for ever? It is answered, God did not create men in a
+state of condemnation, but sin invaded them, and in one all fell. God is
+righteous, and his justice finds every one of the family of man guilty.
+The rectitude of God's character did not require that he should create
+any one with a title to eternal life; but because of sin, it forbade
+that any of the children of fallen man represented by him should come
+into existence in a state of acceptance with him. The case of the sinner
+coming into the world under condemnation, is not worse than that of him,
+who, first having had power to stand, was tempted, and sinned, and fell.
+No less consistent with the excellence of the character of God and the
+sovereignty of his procedures, is the state of one fallen even at the
+very origin of his being, than that of one who had had an opportunity to
+avoid falling, but after a short trial really fell. Adam at first had
+not a right, independently of the sovereign gift of God, to come into
+existence in a state of acceptance. He had not a right to continue in it
+when he sinned. And in like manner, no sinner can say that he had a
+claim upon the Creator to be brought into being free from the curse. The
+same argument that would suffice to establish that men should not be
+implicated in the rebellion of Adam, would go to prove that he should
+not have been allowed himself to fall. And hence the repugnance of men
+to the doctrine of original sin is unwarranted, and affords no proper
+ground on which to deny the Covenant of Works.
+
+Secondly. The wicked, whether individuals or communities, and these
+alone, are not in covenant. Man in innocence was never under the law of
+God merely as a law. The will of God, promulgated as the terms both of a
+covenant and a law, had the sacredness of a law; acceded to by man, it
+had all the sanctity of a covenant. The will of God was propounded as a
+law, to be received both as a law and as a covenant; the acceptance of
+it engaged man to it as possessed of both characters. Because of God's
+authority dictating it as a law, his will revealed conferred obligation.
+Because of God's will and providential arrangements as to the
+constitution of man, he acquiescing in the requirement of the law came
+besides under a covenant obligation to fulfil it. At the very origin of
+his being he came under both obligations. Under both he was placed
+according to the appointment of the Most High, and by his authority. At
+his fall the whole human family became exposed to the curse at once of a
+broken law and a violated covenant. Then and thereafter the law was a
+broken covenant. It had been propounded as a law, and offered as the
+condition of a covenant. As a law and as a covenant it had been
+acquiesced in, and thus stood as a covenant; but by reason of apostacy
+it passed from the rank of a law and a covenant to that of a mere law;
+and as a law proceeded to put forth on the unregenerate the claims for
+punishment, of a law that should still continue, but also of a covenant
+that had been broken, and could never again exist in its original state.
+To the ungodly still it is a law demanding obedience to it, and
+punishment for past transgression of it as a law, and requiring also not
+obedience to it as a covenant, but punishment for the breach of it as a
+covenant. What was the Covenant of Works is not now a covenant to any;
+to the wicked it is a law which by reason of their sin tends to their
+ruin. The work of the law is written upon the hearts of men in sin, but
+not as if it were now a covenant law; for now the Covenant of Works as a
+covenant, has no demand of obedience to it on men. The tendency that
+there is in the unrenewed heart to seek life by the works of the law
+shows, not that the law is there written as a covenant, but that there
+is there an attachment inconsistent with the will of God, to the law as
+a covenant, which, while there is not felt the desire either of good
+flowing from a covenant relation to God or of willingness
+conscientiously to obey his commands, leads vainly to seek, merely
+exemption from punishment, or undefined good. Certainly the blinded
+heathen have not that law which was broken proposed to them as the
+terms of a covenant; and so neither have others.
+
+The will of God revealed to men in a state of sin, has the character of
+a law, but not of a covenant. "The law is not made for a righteous man,
+but for the lawless and disobedient."[472] The impenitent transgressor
+continues under the curse of the law. If not subdued by Divine grace, he
+will continue to feel here the effects of the wrath of God "revealed
+from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold
+the truth in unrighteousness;" and in the future state will experience
+the effects of the curse in "everlasting destruction from the presence
+of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." The law of God addressed
+to corrupt ecclesiastical societies, is not a covenant, but essentially
+a law. A national compact between rulers and people, when violated,
+affords an analogy here. The laws, or institutions, or ordinances, of a
+nation, according to which the sovereign reigns, the other rulers
+govern, and the people voluntarily give obedience, is a covenant; but
+against those who violate them, whatever may be their rank, they act not
+as a covenant but as a law, punishing for breach of covenant. But to
+proceed. When Israel were holiness to the Lord, his law was to them a
+covenant. When any of them fell off into idolatry, that covenant was
+dispensed to those solely as a law taking vengeance for the breach of it
+as a covenant and as a law. To the true Israel receiving spiritual
+blessings, it was dispensed as a covenant. But only as a law demanding
+punishment and obedience, it extended, to many in the mountains of the
+East, and on the plains of Babylon, and afterwards in every part of the
+world, to the descendants of the unbelieving Jews. When the Christian
+Church was pure, the law of God was to her a covenant. When, by the
+removal of the truth, and opposition to it, she degenerated into
+Antichrist, it continued not a covenant to her, but acted against her as
+a law. And before its blighting curse she fell plagued. The judgments
+poured out on the seat of the _Beast_ were its effects; and to that
+curse will be due, the accomplishment of the prediction--"I will stretch
+out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will
+make thee a burnt mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for
+a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for
+ever, saith the Lord;"[473] and the realization of the fearful doom
+proclaimed by an angel come down from Heaven--"Babylon the great is
+fallen, is fallen," and of the woe uttered by a mighty angel, that "took
+up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying,
+Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and
+shall be found no more at all."[474] Even the offers of mercy to the
+unrenewed are made as the requirements of a mere law. So long as they
+are unaccepted, they possess the same character. They are tenders of
+what, when acceded to, would be a covenant; but are not the requirements
+of a covenant till they be appropriated. When received, they are the
+duties of both a law and a covenant. For example, the injunction to
+believe on Jesus, addressed to one in a state of sin, is the command of
+a law, but not of a covenant, to that individual. If not accepted, it
+binds to punishment for disregard of it as a law, and the non-acceptance
+of it is a proposed covenant command. If perfidiously received, it binds
+to punishment for not obeying it, and for deceitfully professing, by vow
+or oath, to receive it. Accepted in sincerity and truth, and
+consequently not by the wicked, but by one born again, it is laid hold
+on at once as a law and a covenant command;--as a requirement of the
+immutable law of God, and as a duty of the Everlasting Covenant.
+
+Commands addressed to believers are at once, even while inculcated, a
+law and a covenant requirement. They have acceded to these. Thereafter,
+such therefore remain not merely a law, but a covenant duty, and as
+enforcing covenant obligation, fall to be habitually observed.
+
+Thirdly. Those who are in covenant with God will, as individuals and
+communities, in some measure make and keep covenant engagements with
+him. Every believer, that is, every one in covenant with God, will after
+some manner practise such duties. Covenanting is an exercise of the
+renewed nature, and is an essential manifestation of it. From
+gravitation come the movement of the moon in her orbit, that of the
+planets round the sun, and perhaps a progress of the whole solar system
+through space; from the living energy of the plant cherished by the
+moisture and heat of heaven proceed, the expanding of the leaf, and the
+putting forth of the flower and fruit; from the laws of molecular
+attraction, come the beautiful forms of the mineral, vegetable, and
+animal creation; from the principle of love to God comes the habit of
+delighting in him; from hope come the stimulating anticipations of
+eternal good; from faith comes the exercise of believing; from the
+heart, whose energies delivered from the dominion of sin by grace, are,
+from their native constitution and by the claims of the God of
+salvation, engaged to him in covenant, proceeds the habitual exercise of
+Covenanting. Where there is motion, there and there only force prevails;
+where organic effort is made, there only life exists; where Covenanting
+is engaged in, there only a covenant relation and title can be found.
+Every incorporate community that forms a part of the true Church of the
+living God, with greater or less frequency, or more or less explicitly,
+recognises its covenant obligations by acknowledging and endeavouring to
+keep them. Where no attention is paid to covenant obligations, there is
+no covenant relation. The body that does not attract iron, or possess
+polarity, is not magnetic. That which does not transmit light or sound,
+is not elastic. That which does not distribute heat is without life. If
+a society bind not others to itself by religious Covenanting after some
+manner, it belongs not to the Church of God. From the law of Covenanting
+comes all the consistency of the union of believers--the family that is
+named in heaven. That family, by displaying God's covenant, invites to
+its communion many who would have perished. The invisible Church cannot
+have associated to it any thing dissimilar to itself, but it binds to it
+those who are congenial to it. It is to the fellowship of the Church
+visible that the members of the Church of the first-born are drawn. God
+prepares men for the communion of saints. It is by the power of the
+Spirit accompanying the means of grace dispensed in the assemblies of
+the faithful, that a transforming effect is produced on the natural man,
+and that he is drawn. It is the power and glory of God that draws and
+unites; and the whole body, like the virgin gold or silver in the veins
+of the rocks, which is composed of what were grains scattered through
+contiguous strata, and by a galvanic power continues to accumulate, has
+its affinities for each of the precious family of grace. The law by
+which these are drawn is not merely moral, but gracious. The communion
+of saints was confederated, that, by attracting others to it, it might
+grow. As a covenant society, and in the use of Covenanting, it attracts.
+It has a tendency to give utterance to its intention, and that by
+professing the truth, that sinners may be won. "As it is written, I
+believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore
+speak."[475] "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners
+shall be converted unto thee."[476] By taking the Covenant of God
+publicly in their mouth, his people in measure fulfil the Redeemer's
+mandate,--"Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with
+another;"[477] and the corresponding duty,--"Let your speech be alway
+with grace, seasoned with salt."[478] It is a serious mark of a Church's
+imperfection for it to recognise only implicitly or virtually its
+covenant obligations. The greater the living energy that inhabits the
+society, the more regard its obligations receive.
+
+Finally. How dreadful is the condition of those who are not in covenant
+with God! It is degraded. Man was in covenant with God at first. With
+all accepted moral beings, and these alone, He deals by way of covenant.
+Thus, after some manner, he dealt with angels in glory. Thus he dealt
+with man unfallen. Thus he deals with sinners redeemed. For sustaining
+the dignity of a covenant relation to him, inanimate and unintelligent
+creation are not adapted; but for not standing in that, they are not
+dishonoured. Angels in light, acquiescing in God's law, were at least
+virtually in covenant with him. Some of them proudly sinned, and fell
+from their high confederation. They took counsel together thereafter,
+but it was against the Lord. In hell they appear his foes combined in
+everlasting league against him, but delivered over forever to the
+terrors of his wrath. To their case alone, that of the wicked even on
+earth can be compared. But the case of rebellious sinners here, is, if
+possible, more revolting. Sinners under condemnation receive outward
+good here, designed to lead them to repentance. All the good diffused
+around, comes through the arrangements of a gracious covenant. They
+receive temporal good themselves indirectly from a covenant on which
+they will not take hold. They despise the word of him who ordained that
+good the most extensive should come to sinners through that covenant.
+Their degradation is extreme. Attempting to go in opposition to all the
+arrangements of the Most High, and yet kept in the enjoyment of some
+good, and in the prospect of the greatest, they are an anomaly in the
+universe. They confederate with one another, but against God. They will
+not take Him into their counsels. They are, therefore, destitute of his
+favour, and of all the honour of co-operating with him. The change to
+which, by sin, they subjected themselves, is more humbling than that
+produced on any other class of creatures, even on fallen angels
+themselves; for these resist not offers of mercy. The inanimate creation
+responds to God's command. He enjoins, and it obeys. There the Divine
+mandate has the sure counterpart of obedience. In the world of unfallen
+intelligences, the word of the Lord is fulfilled willingly by all. In
+the world of perdition, however, it is set at nought. But on earth,
+where benefits are dispensed, it is spurned by the wicked also. The
+twofold curse of a broken law and covenant pursues sinners, yet they are
+invited to escape it; but they will not submit. A covenant of life and
+peace is made known. Its blessings great and precious are freely offered
+to them. Yet they cherish the enmity of their hearts against God, and
+they will not yield. With no sinless creature of God have they
+communion. They are voluntarily alone in the universe, at war with all
+God's creatures, and lowest among them. They are most unworthy. Every
+arrangement of his providence tends to restore them to his favour.
+Neglecting the duty of Covenanting, they set all these at nought. The
+beasts that perish are not degraded, but these are. They are worthy to
+be ranked with apostate angels. In the rage of their rebellion, they are
+bent on enduring all the terrors of a broken law and covenant in the
+place of final woe. Let not sinners persevere in their obstinacy. Even
+yet, there is good largely offered to them, which, if they accept it,
+they will abundantly receive.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[456] Gen. i. 27.
+
+[457] Eccl. vii. 29.
+
+[458] Gen. ii. 16, 17.
+
+[459] Ps. cxi. 9.
+
+[460] Rom. viii. 7.
+
+[461] John v. 40.
+
+[462] Ps. lxxiii. 28.
+
+[463] Is. xlii. 18.
+
+[464] Ps. lxxxv. 8.
+
+[465] Mic. vii. 7.
+
+[466] Ps. iv. 2.
+
+[467] Is. lvi. 6.
+
+[468] Tit. i. 15.
+
+[469] Heb. ix. 14.
+
+[470] Ps. lxxxi. 11.
+
+[471] Phil. ii. 13.
+
+[472] 1 Tim. i. 9.
+
+[473] Jer. li. 25, 26.
+
+[474] Rev. xviii. 21.
+
+[475] 2 Cor. iv. 13.
+
+[476] Ps. li. 13.
+
+[477] Mark ix. 50.
+
+[478] Col. iv. 6.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+COVENANTING ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSES OF GOD.
+
+
+Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law
+will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his
+Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively
+than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of
+a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the
+Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as
+ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as
+predestinated to peculiar privileges and services, make that
+announcement; and consequently, preferring the claim of submission to
+covenant requirements, urge, not less than to the others of these
+requisitions, a dutiful regard to the exercise of solemn Covenanting.
+
+Many things in creation and providence were appointed for this, as well
+as for other ends, that men might make and fulfil solemn vows to God.
+The work of creation itself is cited to lead men to acts of religious
+homage. "The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In
+his hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is
+his also. The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry
+land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord
+our Maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and
+the sheep of his hand."[479] The work of creation was performed, that
+on earth a people might be sustained to serve the Lord. "They shall be
+ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion
+together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord
+with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded
+world without end. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God
+himself that formed the earth, and made it; he hath established it, he
+created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and
+there is none else."[480] In anticipation of bestowing good on his
+people, even during their continuance on earth, the Surety of sinners,
+when the creation of all things was decreed, rejoiced. "The Lord
+possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was
+set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was."
+"When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon
+the face of the depth: when he established the clouds above: when he
+strengthened the fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his
+decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he
+appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as one
+brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always
+before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my
+delights were with the sons of men."[481] Hence of them as the heirs of
+a comprehensive Covenant blessing, it is said in language in substance
+not unfrequently occurring, "The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall
+delight themselves in the abundance of peace."[482] God's covenant with
+every living creature, revealed to Noah, was an appointment to confer
+the means of life on men in order to the attainment of the end of their
+creation. Other arrangements, conducive to the same object, are thus
+described,--"He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there
+shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death; and
+in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge
+of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it
+cometh. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou
+be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For thou shalt be in league with
+the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace
+with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in
+peace."[483] That the land of Canaan was granted to the Israelites, not
+merely by promise, but by a sovereign decree, is implied in the words,
+"Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land
+which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to
+do all that I have commanded them."[484] Israel, fallen from the service
+of the Lord, is thus addressed,--"And it shall be at that day, saith the
+Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi (my husband), and shalt call me no
+more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth,
+and they shall no more be remembered by their name." Protection, as
+ordained in connection with their being taken into covenant with God, is
+thus promised,--"And in that day will I make a covenant for them with
+the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the
+creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow, and the sword,
+and the battle, out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
+And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto
+me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in
+mercies: I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou
+shalt know the Lord." Support, too, as in like manner provided for
+them--crying unto the Lord for the supply of their wants, is
+promised,--"And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith
+the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and
+the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall
+hear Jezreel." And not merely reclaimed Israel, but the Gentiles, as by
+sovereign ordination interested in all their outward and spiritual
+blessings, are objects of the promise,--"And I will sow her unto me in
+the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy;
+and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and
+they shall say, Thou art my God."[485]
+
+Secondly. The covenant of God, as ordained by him, manifests that the
+exercise of vowing unto him was also ordained. That was appointed. In
+statements regarding the sovereign arrangements of providence is this
+taught. These were brought into view, and their continuance promised, in
+the covenant made with Noah. In that covenant it was secured that the
+waters of another flood should not overflow the earth. In that too it
+was promised, that summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, should not
+cease. The covenant, therefore, as well as these ordinances, its
+results, was ordained. And accordingly was ordained, all connected with
+its dispensations. From the use of a term employed in prophecy in
+reference to the waters of the sea, this, moreover, appears. "Fear ye
+not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have
+placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it
+cannot pass it."[486] The term here rendered _placed_, in this passage
+means _appointed_; and in the two following passages is applied to the
+covenant. The statement, "He appointed a law in Israel,"[487] hence
+declares the institution of his law as a decree. And the demands of the
+covenant being those of the law, even as his law, the covenant it
+intimates as ordained, not merely by his high authority, but according
+to his sovereign will. And thus too are expounded David's last
+words,--"He hath made with me," or rather _appointed for me_, "an
+everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure,"[488] as
+intimating not merely his cleaving to God's covenant, but his
+recognition of that covenant as according to his good pleasure, in all
+things decreed.
+
+That covenant was established. "God said unto Noah, This is the token of
+the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is
+upon the earth."[489] In such terms--literally applicable to intelligent
+and moral beings--but in figure transferable to the lower creation too,
+God spake of good intended for living creatures of every kind. That all
+the latter could apprehend his benevolent purposes, the words cannot
+intimate, but they do declare that by a beneficent ordination he had
+made provision for all. The beasts of the field, and the fowls of
+heaven, in common with man, enjoy the benefits of an animal life. With
+him they are subjected to the operation of causes acting according to
+the sovereign purposes of God, and with him, they are employed by the
+Lord of all in their varied spheres to fulfil his will. But he, by his
+great Creator, favoured highly above them, is called to obedience in a
+way to them unknown. Yet not less determinate than the laws and
+dispositions of the material world are all His arrangements, especially
+his covenant provisions made with regard to man. The lower creatures of
+God, though they know him not, obey his word. Moral agents on earth are
+subject wholly to his control. The decrees of his providence affect his
+intelligent and moral creatures not less than those that know not to
+resolve. All things continue according to his ordinances--the material
+creation and his immortal offspring. His statutes bind the heavens and
+the earth; and by his appointment, the relations unto him into which men
+are brought, are constituted and sustained. Whatever may be the
+character of a solemn covenant with him, to his appointment it is due,
+and by his will continues.
+
+If to them that fear God will be verified the declaration, "Thou shalt
+decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee,"[490] will not
+all his own holy purposes stand? And was not all that he
+established--was not the covenant which he established, decreed? His
+purposes and their fulfilment are alike sure. "There are many devices in
+a man's heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall
+stand."[491] To some who had disregarded his covenant were directed his
+words,--"Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and
+with hell are we at agreement: when the overflowing scourge shall pass
+through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge,
+and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore, thus saith the
+Lord God, ... The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the
+waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death
+shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand." But
+revealing the Mediator of his covenant, and, consequently, making known
+that covenant, as to obtain, instead of the covenant with death, which
+was to be swept away, at the same time he says, "Behold, I lay in Zion
+for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a
+sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also
+will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." Regarding
+both the threatening and the promise, are his words,--"This also cometh
+forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and
+excellent in working."[492] And may there not also be applied to both
+his own averment,--"The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I
+have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall
+it stand."[493]
+
+The covenant was commanded. When God said, "I have made the earth, and
+created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens,
+and all their host have I commanded," He spake of that omnipotent word
+by which he commanded all their hosts, at least into existence. And,
+accordingly, we are to understand the testimony, "He hath commanded his
+covenant for ever,"[494] as implying not merely that it should endure
+for ever, but that to his almighty mandate are its origin and
+continuance due. This the Psalmist celebrates when he sings of Zion,
+"There the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."[495]
+And this, too, in addressing the children of Zion, and the God of Zion,
+he records. "Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God,
+that which thou hast wrought for us."[496] In like manner, are the
+blessings of that covenant thus announced:--"The Lord shall command the
+blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest
+thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy
+God giveth thee." And is thus declared, that obedience to its
+requirements was ordained, "He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
+the word which he commanded to a thousand generations: which covenant he
+made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto
+Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant." By
+the Lord of all, obedience to his law is enjoined. But what is
+requisite that duty be performed, is from him. And all needful aid he
+ordained. His law exhibits what he demands. The allotments of his
+providence illustrate the necessity of submission to him; and the
+pre-determinations of his will secure the services which he accepts.
+His laws are perfect. With the arrangements of his providence they
+harmonize. On the absolute perfection of his nature they are founded.
+All who obey them declare their approval of his purpose. To encourage
+such, his purposes are revealed. Because his covenant was commanded, it
+was made known. Its revelation, with its other provisions, leads to the
+attainment of its end. And it shall continue. Its benefits will be
+confessed, and its obligations respected and fulfilled. Contemplating
+its demands as promulgated by the authority of God, these they will
+endeavour to satisfy in accordance with his sovereign decrees. The
+wicked disobey his commandments, but cannot alter the determination of
+his will. The others make not the purposes of God the rule of duty, but
+endeavouring to fulfil his revealed will, they are employed with honour
+to execute his counsel. "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the
+inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was
+done; he commanded, and it stood fast." "The counsel of the Lord
+standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed
+is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen
+for his own inheritance."[497]
+
+And the covenant of God stands according to a sovereign decree. In
+virtue of his high authority the Lord imposed the regulations of his
+material and intelligent kingdoms, and the laws by which his moral
+creatures are governed. Hence, terms strictly applicable only to the
+government of the one, are metaphorically applied to the control of the
+other. And his dispensations to some are employed as symbols of his
+operations towards the rest. Thus, in language primarily used in
+reference to the firmness or security of a building, his word, and,
+consequently, his covenant, the arrangements of which it embodies, are
+represented as decreed. "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
+that thou hast founded them forever."[498] As ordained or decreed, to
+the appointments of the material universe it is compared. "Thus saith
+the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the
+night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then
+may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not
+have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests,
+my ministers."--"Thus saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and
+night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
+then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant."[499] And
+especially is that true religion through which covenant engagements are
+made and kept, according to God's decree. "Where shall wisdom be found?
+and where is the place of understanding?"--"God understandeth the way
+thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof." "When he made a decree for
+the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did he see
+it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto
+man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart
+from evil is understanding."[500] Were the rain, and the lightning, and
+the thunder decreed? Then no less was decreed "the fear of the Lord." To
+vow unto the Lord was to manifest that fear. "Thou shalt fear the Lord
+thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."[501] And hence,
+also, not less than every other effect of that true wisdom which
+consists in the fear of the Lord, and of that understanding which is to
+depart from evil, was ordained the service of vowing and swearing to
+him.
+
+Thirdly. A people were foreordained to make solemn vows unto God.
+Representations are given of his people as formed for his service.
+According to some of these, the expression, to form, means to fashion,
+or to bring into existence. "I will say to the north, give up; and to
+the south, keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from
+the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name: for I
+have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him."
+"This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my
+praise."[502] "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my
+servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant."[503] And hence,
+because whatever is formed, is formed according to God's purpose, his
+servants, to his service in all its parts, were foreordained by him. But
+besides, the meaning of the said expression, cannot, even in the
+foregoing passages, nor in others, be limited to its literal import. It
+is employed to intimate that God pre-determined what his enemies should
+accomplish. "Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of
+ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass,
+that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous
+heaps."[504] In reference to a Covenant people to be continued to
+discharge their peculiar duties, and to provisions of grace, described
+in terms most beauteous, it is applied.[505] "Thus saith the Lord, the
+maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his
+name."[506] And since the purposes of God secure their fulfilment, and
+so his arrangements concerning his people secure their creation,
+regeneration, and continued support, does not the expression, kindred to
+others, "Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the
+womb, which will help thee; fear not, O Jacob, my servant," explicitly
+advert to them as predestinated to obedience, and especially the
+obedience thus described, "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another
+shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe
+with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of
+Israel"?[507] Reasonings on the sovereignty of God exercised in setting
+apart a limited number to the benefits of salvation, illustrate and
+assert the truth. "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against
+God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou
+made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump,
+to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God,
+willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with
+much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that
+he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
+which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called,
+not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles."[508] In such terms is
+God described as not merely having created all things, but as having
+predestinated some to eternal life, and decreed that others should be
+left to perish. The mode of expression embodying the image of the potter
+agrees with the words of the Old Testament Scriptures,--"Surely your
+turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay:
+for shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? or shall the
+thing framed (formed) say of him that framed (formed) it, he had no
+understanding?"[509] What is taught by the use of such language must
+therefore be implied in those declarations of the prophets, where
+corresponding terms are employed. In the language of the Old Testament,
+the potter is literally, he who forms. According to the Apostle, the
+potter symbolizes him who predestinates. Hence, since, as in the
+words,--"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd
+strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
+fashioneth (formeth) it, what makest thou? or thy work, he hath no
+hands,"[510] he is compared to the potter, He is to be recognised as the
+sovereign Disposer of the final conditions of all. And forasmuch as, at
+a given period, concerning the existing house of Jacob, framed by him,
+he says in regard to their descendants, also formed by him, "But when he
+seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they
+shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall
+fear the God of Israel,"[511] depicting all of them in the character of
+those who avouch him to be their God, the true Israel he acknowledges as
+formed for, or set apart to, that high distinction by himself; and that
+the Apostle had this in view, his quotations from the prophets here
+given declare. It was of a people who should be objects of this promise,
+"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me
+Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali,"[512] and on whom the privileges
+thereafter described should be conferred, that was predicted the
+blessedness, "I will call them my people, which were not my people; and
+her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in
+the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall
+they be called the children of the living God."[513] It is of those, to
+whom Covenanting[514] with God, refers the promise, "The remnant of
+Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more
+again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the
+Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant
+of Jacob, unto the mighty God,"[515] that Esaias also crieth, "Though
+the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a
+remnant shall be saved."[516] And it was of those who, heirs of
+Abraham's faith, which was counted to him for righteousness, were, as he
+was, taken into covenant with God, and like whom none remained in the
+cities of the plain when these were overthrown, that "Esaias said
+before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as
+Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha."[517]
+
+The Covenant people of God are an appointed people. Even as a law was
+appointed in Israel; even as an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all
+things and sure, was appointed; so were they. "And who, as I, shall
+call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I
+appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall
+come, let them shew unto them."[518] The same term, denoting to appoint,
+in each of the three cases is used. It is used in original of the
+passage, "He gave (appointed) to the sea his decree;" and in this
+acceptation of it signifies, in sovereignty to ordain. The ancient
+people included first the people of Israel;[519] and they are the
+Covenant people of all nations, and of every age, members of that church
+whose date is of ancient days. By the prophet who speaks of their
+appointment, their practice as Covenanters vowing to the Lord, in a
+familiar passage is explicitly described.[520] From others it may be
+concluded. Many evils overtook apostate Israel. "The earth mourneth, and
+fadeth away; the world languisheth, and fadeth away; the haughty people
+of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the
+inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed
+the ordinance, broken the Everlasting Covenant. Therefore hath the curse
+devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate." But to
+many, good was to follow. And if, for the neglect of making and keeping
+Covenant engagements, such calamities were poured out, will not a strict
+regard to these duties be paid when desolations shall cease, and there
+shall have arrived the time, "when the Lord of hosts shall reign in
+mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously."[521]
+Many were appointed or left to disobedience and condemnation. And were
+not others appointed to obedience and life? Of the former, the Apostle
+Peter writes,--"But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
+builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a
+stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at
+the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed." But to
+the others, in terms certainly implying, that to every privilege and
+duty of the Covenant they were no less--yea, assuredly appointed, He
+says, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an
+holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
+Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I
+lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth
+on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is
+precious." The chief corner stone laid in Sion is presented as aground
+of trust, instead of the Covenant with death and hell which should not
+stand. All founded on him are therefore a Covenant people, and hence, in
+that character, they were appointed. And hence, in terms from the Old
+Testament, bearing on Covenant relations and duties, he continues his
+address, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
+nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him
+who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in
+time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had
+not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."[522]
+
+The people of God, as a Covenant people, were written in the book of
+life. Of the holy Jerusalem the Spirit testifies, "There shall in no
+wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
+abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's
+book of life."[523] Whosoever enters therein, therefore, will not rank
+among those who, refusing to act as the children of the Covenant, are
+denominated the uncircumcised and the unclean. Concerning the beast, it
+is said, "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names
+are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
+foundation of the world."[524] The sin of those is idolatry. Hence,
+neither are written in the book of life any others, who impenitently
+refraining from the obedience of a covenant people, virtually persevere
+in the service of any idols, till death arrests them. It was to Israel
+as a people who had voluntarily in covenant dedicated themselves to his
+service, that was addressed the message, "Thus saith the Lord, I
+remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals,
+when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not
+sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord."[525] And applicable to all
+who, such as they were, being in covenant are sanctified, is the
+promise, "And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and
+he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one
+that is written among the living in Jerusalem."[526] The saints of God
+are come "to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which
+are written in heaven;" but they are also come to "Jesus, the mediator
+of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
+better things than that of Abel." And according to their distinguished
+destination they endeavour to reduce to practice the exhortation,
+"Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
+grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
+fear."[527]
+
+The Covenant people of God are an elect people. They were chosen to be
+separated from the wicked and from their works. Thus Israel were
+separated from the heathen. Thus all who believe are separated from
+those that know not nor obey the Lord. "Thou art an holy people unto the
+Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people
+unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the
+earth."[528] "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt
+swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the
+people which are round about you."[529] The answer of God to the
+lamentation of Elijah concerning the defection of Israel, is applied to
+believers of New Testament times, as a people in covenant chosen from
+the wicked. "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye
+not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God
+against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged
+down thine altars: and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what
+saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
+thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so
+then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the
+election of grace."[530] The apostle does not quote the words of the
+prophet,--"The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant;"[531] but
+he states the evidence for the fact which these words announce, "They
+have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars." The seven
+thousand who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal, were steadfast
+in God's Covenant. All believers are so. As thus steadfast, all of them
+in every time are a remnant, according to the election of grace.
+
+The people of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
+world. Hence a visible church was erected therein. Hence Israel, as a
+people, were endowed with peculiar privileges. Hence the ordinances of
+Divine grace are dispensed in every age. But all are not elect who wait
+on the institutions of religion. Israel was chosen from among the
+heathen; but all of them were not chosen in Christ. The members of the
+visible church, by profession, are separated from the world; but all of
+them do not enjoy the privileges, and do not discharge the duties of
+God's elect. All are not Israel who are of Israel. When the Lord entered
+into covenant with his people Israel, he chose them from among
+idolaters. He did so because of his choice of them from everlasting. Why
+the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, is, that
+he chose them from eternity. And the Lord will have mercy on the
+Gentiles as a covenant people, set apart from the wicked, according to
+his eternal sovereign good will. "The Lord did not set his love upon
+you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for
+ye were the fewest of all the people; but because the Lord loved
+you.--"[532] "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but
+the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."[533] When
+Paul and Barnabas preached at Antioch in Pisidia, the Jews spake against
+those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
+These apostles thereupon expressed their resolution to turn to the
+Gentiles. And their warrant they declare, "For so hath the Lord
+commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles,
+that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." Nor
+was he, who, that he might be a light of the Gentiles, was given for a
+covenant of the people,[534] then preached in vain. "When the Gentiles
+heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as
+many as were ordained to eternal life believed."[535]
+
+The people of God were elected to covenant obedience. Israel were
+frequently represented both as his _elect_ and as his _servants_. "For
+Jacob, my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee
+by thy name."[536] The elect are spoken of as formed and ordained to
+good works. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
+good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
+And those good works include the keeping of the covenant, by Covenanting
+and fulfilling the engagements made. "Wherefore, remember, that ye being
+in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by
+that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that
+at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
+of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
+and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
+were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ."[537] The saints are
+described as "elect--unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
+Christ."[538] As the sprinkling of blood, signifying the application of
+the efficacy of Christ's death by the Spirit of God, was wont to
+accompany the exercise of Covenanting by sacrifice, so, under the last
+dispensation, the obedience of the people of God, according to election,
+is to spring from their acceptance of Christ and his benefits, and
+dedication to God in the various acts of personal and social
+Covenanting. Finally, they are introduced at once as his witnesses, his
+servant, and his chosen. "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my
+servant whom I have chosen."[539] They were therefore chosen to serve
+him, by vowing and swearing to him in secret, by testifying to his
+truths by oath before the world, and by adhering faithfully to his
+testimony.
+
+The people of God were elected to privileges that can be enjoyed only by
+those in covenant with him. Theirs is the heavenly calling; and this
+they enjoy, "that the purpose of God, according to election, might
+stand, not of works, but of him that calleth."[540] All the saints being
+called, and chosen, and faithful, Abraham had been a partaker of this
+calling when God delivered to him the command to leave his native land,
+which the patriarch obeyed. That effectual call led him to obey the
+special mandate to go forth to Canaan, and to believe the precious
+promise that had been made to him. When the Covenant of God was
+established with him by that call, he laid hold upon it, testifying to
+his acquiescence in it, by believing in the Lord, by sacrificing unto
+him, and by receiving circumcision as a covenant sign. And that, as the
+promise of that covenant was to the Jews who were called, so its
+seasonable duties, and consequently the exercise of engaging to it, were
+incumbent upon them, appears from the record of the specially momentous
+day of Pentecost. Manifestly keeping in view the Covenant, by
+inculcating on the people a regard to baptism--its sign, "Peter said
+unto them, repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus
+Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
+Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to
+all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
+call."[541] Not merely to the Jews was its precious promise of the
+"seed," Christ, but to the Gentiles also. And faith in him, and the duty
+of keeping and of entering into covenant with him, under the latter
+dispensation, are obligatory on all. "The Scripture, foreseeing that God
+would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
+Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they
+which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."[542] And the
+gospel is preached, that men receiving the external call may be called
+effectually, and thus brought to receive the promise, and fulfil the
+duties required. Like the Israelites, who, after His manifestation in
+the flesh, believed in Jesus, all the people of God feel and acknowledge
+their covenant obligations, that they should show forth the praises of
+Him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light. To
+the condition of a people keeping covenant, the seed of Jacob yet to be
+reclaimed, as chosen of God will be called. "Blindness in part is
+happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so
+all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of
+Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for
+this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. As
+concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching
+the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and
+calling of God are without repentance."[543] And all whom he had before
+prepared unto glory, even those whom he hath called, not of the Jews
+only, but also of the Gentiles, as a people in covenant acting faith on
+Christ will lay hold on the covenant promise. "For this cause he is the
+mediator of the new testament (covenant), that by means of death, for
+the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament
+(covenant), they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
+inheritance."[544]
+
+To the elect people of God belongs the blessing of justification. "Whom
+he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he
+also justified."[545] Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him
+for righteousness. It was when, in the exercise of Covenanting, he
+accepted of the promise of God, that he was thus blessed. All who
+believe are the children of Abraham, and, being in covenant, are, by
+being justified, blessed with him. "In the Lord shall all the seed of
+Israel be justified, and shall glory." They are those concerning whom
+the Lord hath sworn, saying, "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue
+shall swear. Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and
+strength."[546] The Lord Jesus, exalted a Prince and a Saviour, is made
+of God unto his people, righteousness. Being justified by faith, they
+have the covenant blessing of peace with God, through Christ. And to the
+glory of the Redeemer, and to the manifestation of the solemn covenant
+relations to God in which they stand, making mention of his
+righteousness, they will vow and swear to him. Under the auspicious
+reign of Messiah, seated at God's right hand, the people of Israel,
+restored to their own land, will do so. "In his days Judah shall be
+saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he
+shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days
+come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth,
+which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but,
+The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led the seed of the house
+of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had
+driven them."[547] And this duty the Gentile nations also shall perform.
+"Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in
+righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him
+shall they glory."[548]
+
+The Lord hath chosen his people to the adoption of sons. "Having
+predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
+himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."[549] In that
+character they individually, and also in a social capacity, vow to the
+Lord, and keep his covenant. To manifest that that relation recognises
+the necessity of self-dedication unto him, he says to each one called to
+his service, "My son, give me thine heart."[550] That Israel might be
+led into the wilderness, and thence to Canaan, not merely to give
+continual obedience to his law, but at certain seasons, as a people, to
+enter into solemn covenant with God, Pharaoh had addressed to him the
+message, "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born: and
+I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me."[551] In terms
+which describe the everlasting covenant between the Father and the
+Surety of sinners, the covenant of royalty which God made with David is
+also commemorated.[552] In that covenant Solomon was interested, and,
+standing in such a relation, was the object of the promise, "I will be
+his father, and he shall be my son."[553] Jacob, described as the Lord's
+servant, and Israel as his elect, and who are represented as vowing and
+swearing to the Lord, are acknowledged as his sons. "Thus saith the
+Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come
+concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye
+me."[554] Israel, by falling into idolatry, manifestly disregarding the
+solemn covenant obligations that had descended upon them, were reminded
+of their sin, by a representation of that filial relation to God in
+which their fathers stood, but to which many, notwithstanding their
+professions, through unbelief, never attained. "When Israel was a child,
+then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them,
+so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense
+to graven images."[555] In the character of his sons, will Israel be
+reclaimed from their apostacy, and voluntarily enter into solemn
+engagements with God as his covenant people. "They shall come with
+weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to
+walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not
+stumble; for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my
+first-born."[556] In the character of children, too, they shall enjoy
+the benefits of God's covenant;[557] and, like them, all the chosen of
+God will hear his gracious invitation, "Return, ye backsliding children,
+and I will heal your backsliding;" and with them cheerfully coming
+under obligation to serve him, they will say, "Behold, we come unto
+thee; for thou art the Lord our God."[558] Both Jews and Gentiles are
+interested in the apostle's declaration, "Ye are all the children of God
+by faith in Christ Jesus.... And if ye be Christ's, then are ye
+Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."[559]
+
+The elect people of God are a sanctified people. "We are bound to give
+thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God
+hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
+of the Spirit, and belief of the truth."[560] And as a holy people they
+draw near to vow to him. As separated from the heathen, and called to
+the service of God, Israel appeared a holy people. Abstaining from
+certain practices in which idolaters engaged, they were ceremonially
+holy. Under both aspects, they appeared a symbol of the true Israel
+among them, and of all else who are sanctified by the Spirit, and
+dedicated to the Lord. The people entered into a covenant with the Lord
+at Sinai. But that they might be prepared for acceding to it, and for
+the accompanying solemnities, they, as a holy people, required to make
+progress in sanctification, were previously to be sanctified. "The Lord
+said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and
+to-morrow."[561] In order to wait upon God, whether making miraculous
+displays of his omniscience or power, or manifesting himself in the
+dispensation of the ordinances of his grace, the people of Israel were
+commanded to sanctify themselves. The place of his gracious presence,
+where his people, besides engaging in other exercises, sware in
+Covenanting with him, was his sanctuary. His covenant with his people,
+as that with Abraham, is a holy covenant. That his people may enter
+into covenant renewedly, the Lord himself will sanctify them. His
+Sabbath, the sign of his covenant, he gave them, that they might know
+this.[562] This they will continue to experience. Many sware by those
+that were no gods, but to his own people as swearing by his name he
+promises, "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day
+of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath
+bid (sanctified) his guests."[563] In this, ruin may be threatened to
+his enemies; but in it, certainly, is implied his gracious procedures to
+his saints. By the Holy Ghost they are sanctified, that they may
+dedicate themselves to God, and thereafter serve him. "Putting you in
+mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, that I should be
+the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of
+God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being
+sanctified by the Holy Ghost."[564] This offering up or oblation of the
+Gentiles, was that urged in these terms,--"I beseech you therefore,
+brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
+sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
+service."[565] And by the blood of the Everlasting Covenant are such set
+apart to this. "Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people
+with his own blood, suffered without the gate." "By him therefore let us
+offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
+our lips, giving thanks to (or confessing) his name. But to do good, and
+to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well
+pleased."[566]
+
+To them belong the benefits of redemption that accompany and flow from
+acceptance with God. These are,
+
+Assurance of God's love. All believers may not enjoy this blessing; few
+may attain to it in any comforting or satisfactory measure; yet it is
+attainable. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
+himself."[567] "Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the
+Spirit."[568] "He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will
+love him, and manifest myself to him." "If a man love me, he will keep
+my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and
+make our abode with him."[569] It is provided. It is vouchsafed as a
+provision of the Everlasting Covenant. "The secret of the Lord is with
+them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant."[570] Those who
+enjoy it know that to it they were elected. "Knowing, brethren beloved,
+your election of God."[571] And from the invitation to enter upon
+eternal life, that will be given to the righteous by the glorious Judge
+of all on his high throne, it is manifest that from the days of
+eternity, that blessing, preparatory for the final glory, was secured to
+them. He will say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
+prepared for you from the foundation of the world."[572] Among the
+benefits introductory to the final glory, which, not less than that
+glory, were laid up for them, appears the earnest of the Spirit. "In
+whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
+of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed
+with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
+inheritance."[573]
+
+Peace of conscience. It is according to the purpose of God that faith is
+exercised. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,--to believe on
+him."[574] And by that faith, through which justification, a fruit
+itself of the Divine counsels, is bestowed, and which is in exercise in
+Covenanting, peace with God is enjoyed. "Therefore, being justified by
+faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."[575]
+Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost are all vouchsafed to
+the believer; all of them are covenant blessings. The arrangements of
+Divine mercy secure righteousness, and therefore all of these. The new
+creature, born from above, ranks among the Israel of God, who are by
+covenant engaged to his service; and on such the peace of God is
+invoked. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing,
+nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to
+this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of
+God."[576] God, in covenant, is the God of peace. Believers say
+concerning Christ, "He is our peace."[577] The Covenant of God is a
+covenant of peace;--peace of conscience: peace with Himself: peace in
+all its manifestations. And that peace, which Christ came to secure,
+which he preached, and which he commanded, as his best blessing, to
+descend upon his people, proceeded from that counsel whence came all the
+displays of God's love--the Counsel of Peace.
+
+Joy in the Holy Ghost. "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but
+righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."[578] Every one
+that sweareth truly by Him shall rejoice in God, and shall glory.[579]
+Joy in God is essential to the exercise properly conducted. Let the
+saints testify from their own experience to the perfect correspondence
+to their feelings of these words, dictated by his own Spirit,--"I the
+Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt-offering; and I will direct
+their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with
+them.... I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in
+my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath
+covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
+himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with
+jewels."[580] Supplication may be made for joy in vowing and swearing by
+his name. "Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I
+lift up my soul."[581] The Church of God, yea, many nations, are
+commanded to rejoice, performing this service. "Sing and rejoice, O
+daughter of Zion: for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee,
+saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that
+day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee: and
+thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee."[582] On
+a solemn occasion, all Judah rejoiced at the oath which they had
+sworn.[583] Promises are made, that, engaging in this exercise, many
+will rejoice. Those who shall take bold on the Covenant of God will be
+joyful in his house of prayer.[584] As he did on a former occasion,[585]
+when the Lord turns the captivity of Israel, and takes them into
+covenant with himself, he will cause them to rejoice. And the Gentile
+nations, in like manner, engaged as they were, shall be filled with joy.
+"Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the
+truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers; and that
+the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this
+cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy
+name.... Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
+believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy
+Ghost."[586] And the rejoicing thus variously represented is according
+to Divine ordination. It is said, "Behold, my servant shall sing for joy
+of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for
+vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my
+chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by
+another name. That he who blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless
+himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall
+swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten,
+and because they are hid from mine eyes." But concerning these words, as
+well as others that precede them, it is said by Him whose Spirit
+dictated them, "Behold it is written before me."[587] How elevated is
+the rejoicing of God's Covenant people! Theirs is a joy which the world
+cannot give nor take away. With it a stranger cannot intermeddle; it is
+unspeakable and full of glory! It is the joy of the Lord!
+
+Increase of grace. The Covenant people are a remnant according to the
+election of grace.[588] To that grace, therefore, which comes from the
+free favour of God they were chosen by him. They are heirs of the grace
+of life;[589] and, consequently, in God's purposes, according to his
+Covenant, they were set apart to the enjoyment of grace that should be
+progressive. They are planted in the house of God, and grow up and
+flourish in his courts; and there they still bring forth fruit in old
+age. They are the planting of the Lord; and according to his purpose, as
+well as to his actual disposal of them and their own engagements to be
+for Him, they stand there. Passing towards the heavenly temple, they go
+on from strength to strength. In taking hold on him, in vowing and
+swearing to him, they do so, and find that the Lord indeed is their
+strength. And as they find thus that the Lord ordains strength for
+them, they know that he had so ordained at first. To them that fear the
+name of the Lord, and accordingly avouch him to be their God, is made
+the promise, "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
+Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth,
+and grow up as calves of the stall."[590] That promise, as well as every
+other, is due to his immutable counsel.[591] Finally, the command is
+given, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
+Jesus Christ."[592] To grow in grace is, therefore, co-ordinate with
+increase in the knowledge of Christ--even of that knowledge which is
+attained to in cleaving to his Covenant. And he himself teaches, that
+fitness to do so was provided according to his purpose. "Ye have not
+chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go
+and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that
+whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it
+you."[593]
+
+Perseverance in grace. God's Covenant with his people shall not be
+broken. "I will never break my covenant with you."[594] "The Lord will
+not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance."[595]
+He will give grace to cleave to it continually. "I will make an
+everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to
+do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
+not depart from me."[596] Believers were given to Christ, and therefore
+they cannot be lost. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
+never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
+Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
+pluck them out of my Father's hand."[597] Trusting in him, therefore,
+his people rejoice to say, "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth
+sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his."[598]
+
+And eternal life. This consummation unspeakable is indissolubly
+connected with the purpose of God, and the believer's exercises of
+adhering to the Covenant. On the promise of eternal life the heirs of it
+lay hold in Covenanting; and to this they were chosen. They cleave to
+the covenant as an Everlasting Covenant, well ordered in all things and
+sure: that is all their salvation, and all their desire. And to that
+final salvation they were chosen. "Whom he did predestinate, them he
+also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
+justified, them he also glorified."[599] Who can describe that life? and
+who can sufficiently tell of the grace of Him who hath secured it to
+men? And who should not feel amazed at the backwardness of sinners to
+prepare for it--so free and beneficently offered? Truly the glory of God
+is great in his salvation! The redeemed through eternity will find the
+glad work of declaring that glory undone. Would that sinners now, by
+accepting of the great salvation, would begin here, and finally be
+prepared to celebrate with all others of their race redeemed to God,
+that glory!
+
+In conclusion. As in every case the purposes of God harmonize with his
+precepts, so the manifestation of those in reference to the keeping his
+Covenant, unites with express injunctions of his law in urging to
+discharge that duty. The law of God conspires with his revealed purposes
+to lead the sinner to obedience; and his purposes revealed illustrate
+the import of his law. Both consist with his nature. What in his
+providence accords with both, at once acknowledges the high claim which
+he has upon the willing exertions of men to serve him, and his right to
+appoint, independently of a specified statute, what shall be carried
+into effect. The law of God is the rule according to which men act; and
+that is illustrated by his purposes revealed. His purpose is the rule
+according to which he acts, and that is consistent with his law.
+Accompanied by the sanction of both, Covenanting is revealed; and not
+less than as dictated in his law, it appears, as according to his
+purpose, an Ordinance of God.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[479] Ps. xcv. 3-7.
+
+[480] Is. xlv. 16-18.
+
+[481] Prov. viii. 22, 23. 27-31.
+
+[482] Ps. xxxvii. 11.
+
+[483] Job v. 19-24.
+
+[484] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 8.
+
+[485] Hos. ii. 16-23.
+
+[486] Jer. v. 22.
+
+[487] Ps. lxxviii. 5.
+
+[488] 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.
+
+[489] Gen. ix. 17.
+
+[490] Job xxii. 28.
+
+[491] Prov. xix. 21.
+
+[492] Is. xxviii. 15, 16, 17, 18, 29.
+
+[493] Is. xiv. 24.
+
+[494] Ps. cxi. 9.
+
+[495] Ps. cxxxiii. 3.
+
+[496] Ps. lxviii. 28.
+
+[497] Ps. xxxiii. 8, 9, 11, 12.
+
+[498] Ps. cxix. 152.
+
+[499] Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21, 25. 26.
+
+[500] Job xxviii. 12, 23, 26-28.
+
+[501] Deut. vi. 13.
+
+[502] Is. xliii. 6, 7. 21.
+
+[503] Is. xliv. 21.
+
+[504] Is. xxxvii. 26.
+
+[505] Jer. xxxiii.
+
+[506] Jer. xxxiii. 2.
+
+[507] Is. xliv. 2, 5.
+
+[508] Rom. ix. 20-24.
+
+[509] Is. xxix. 16.
+
+[510] Is. xlv. 9.
+
+[511] Is. xxix. 23.
+
+[512] Hos. ii. 16.
+
+[513] Rom. ix. 25, 26.
+
+[514] Jer. l. 4, 5.
+
+[515] Is. x. 20, 21.
+
+[516] Rom. ix. 27.
+
+[517] Is. i. 9; Rom. ix. 29.
+
+[518] Is. xliv. 7.
+
+[519] Is. xlvii. 6.
+
+[520] Is. xliv. 5.
+
+[521] Is. xxiv. 4, 6, 23.
+
+[522] 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8, 5, 6, 9, 10.
+
+[523] Rev. xxi. 27.
+
+[524] Rev. xiii. 8.
+
+[525] Jer. ii. 2, 3.
+
+[526] Is. iv. 3.
+
+[527] Heb. xii. 23, 24, 28.
+
+[528] Deut. vii. 6.
+
+[529] Deut. vi. 13, 14; see also Ezek. xx. 5-7.
+
+[530] Rom. xi. 2-5.
+
+[531] 1 Kings xix. 10.
+
+[532] Deut. vii. 7, 8.
+
+[533] Rom. xi. 7.
+
+[534] Is. xlii. 6.
+
+[535] Acts xiii. 45-48.
+
+[536] Is. xlv. 4; see also Is. xli. 8, 9; and Ps. cv. 6.
+
+[537] Eph. ii. 10, 11-13.
+
+[538] 1 Pet. i. 2.
+
+[539] Is. xliii. 10.
+
+[540] Rom. ix. 11.
+
+[541] Acts ii. 38, 39.
+
+[542] Gal. iii. 8, 9.
+
+[543] Rom. xi. 25-29.
+
+[544] Heb. ix. 15.
+
+[545] Rom. viii. 30.
+
+[546] Is. xlv. 25, 23, 24.
+
+[547] Jer. xxiii. 6-8.
+
+[548] Jer. iv. 2.
+
+[549] Eph. i. 5.
+
+[550] Prov. xxiii. 26.
+
+[551] Exod. iv. 22, 23.
+
+[552] Ps. lxxxix. 3-28.
+
+[553] 2 Sam. vii. 14.
+
+[554] Is. xlv. 4, 23-25, 11.
+
+[555] Hos. xi. 1, 2.
+
+[556] Jer. xxxi. 9; see also ver. 31-37.
+
+[557] Jer. iii. 18, 19.
+
+[558] Jer. iii. 22.
+
+[559] Gal. iii. 26, 29.
+
+[560] 2 Thess. ii. 13.
+
+[561] Exod. xix. 10.
+
+[562] Exod. xxxi. 13.
+
+[563] Zeph. i. 7.
+
+[564] Rom. xv. 15, 16.
+
+[565] Rom. xii. 1.
+
+[566] Heb. xiii. 12, 15, 16.
+
+[567] 1 John v. 10.
+
+[568] Rom. viii. 23.
+
+[569] John xiv. 21, 23.
+
+[570] Ps. xxv. 14.
+
+[571] 1 Thess. i. 4.
+
+[572] Matt. xxv. 34.
+
+[573] Eph. i. 13, 14; see also 2 Cor. i. 22; v. 5.
+
+[574] Phil. i. 29.
+
+[575] Rom. v. 1.
+
+[576] Gal. vi. 15, 16.
+
+[577] Eph. ii. 14.
+
+[578] Rom. xiv. 17.
+
+[579] Ps. lxiii. 11.
+
+[580] Is. lxi. 8-10.
+
+[581] Ps. lxxxvi. 4.
+
+[582] Zech. ii. 10, 11.
+
+[583] 2 Chron. xv. 15.
+
+[584] Is. lvi. 6, 7.
+
+[585] Neh. xii. 43.
+
+[586] Rom. xv. 8, 9, 13.
+
+[587] Is. lxv. 14, 16, 6.
+
+[588] Rom. xi. 5.
+
+[589] 1 Pet. iii. 7.
+
+[590] Mal. iv. 2.
+
+[591] Heb. vi. 17.
+
+[592] 2 Pet. iii. 18.
+
+[593] John xv. 16.
+
+[594] Judg. ii. 1.
+
+[595] Ps. xciv. 14; see also Is. liv. 9, 10.
+
+[596] Jer. xxxii. 40.
+
+[597] John x. 28, 29.
+
+[598] 2 Tim. ii. 19.
+
+[599] Rom. viii. 30.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+COVENANTING SANCTIONED BY THE DIVINE EXAMPLE.
+
+
+God's procedure when imitable forms a peculiar argument for duty. That
+is made known for many reasons; among which must stand this,--that it
+may be observed and followed as an example. That, being perfect, is a
+safe and necessary pattern to follow. The law of God proclaims what he
+wills men as well as angels to do. The purposes of God show what he has
+resolved to have accomplished. The constitutions of his moral subjects
+intimate that he has provided that his will shall be voluntarily
+accomplished by some of them. His own example presents what must be
+willingly done. It affords a complete reason for doing what is besides
+variously urged. The law of God is his will diffused among his moral
+subjects. His revealed purposes are his determinations to be carried
+into effect by means, many of which are beyond the sphere of the willing
+endeavours of his creatures. The constitutions of his obedient subjects
+are an instrumentality worthy of the glorious moral character of Him
+who, though independent of all, acts according to the principles of
+eternal rectitude, and who in infinite wisdom can cause immortal beings,
+bound by immutable laws, to act so as freely to perform his holy will.
+His own example is the direct operation, not of creatures, nor of laws,
+nor of dispositions, but of the I AM himself, as the infinite, eternal,
+and unchangeable Spirit, presented to the creatures of his power, for
+their guidance and direction.
+
+I. God himself has entered into Covenant engagements. The dispensations
+of God in Covenant are peculiar to Himself. No change whatever is
+produced on him when he transacts with his creatures, or on their
+behalf. His relations to them are constituted wholly by his doings that
+affect them; He himself is immutable in his being and purposes. When he
+acts, he is not moved; when he accepts, no transformation of character
+is produced upon him; any new relation in which he stands comes wholly
+from the effect accomplished on the creature. He makes known his will,
+not as due to the present, but as the same from eternity. He acts in
+creation and providence; but his creatures alone are affected. He
+becomes engaged to some of them, not by any alteration being produced
+upon his views or enjoyments, or state or character, but by the
+manifestation of what he is. He accepts of those as united to
+Him--viewed by them through his grace as possessed of a certain glorious
+character. From eternity his sovereign purposes regarding the salvation
+of man, were, but not by any change in the Trinity, or in the Unity of
+the Godhead, defined in Covenant.
+
+First. The Eternal Three-in-One entered into confederation in the
+Covenant of Redemption. We are warranted from Scripture to receive this
+Covenant as a fact. It might not have been; but according to God's will,
+it was. The purpose of God to save sinners is from eternity. The
+covenant is due to that. In an order of nature wonderful to contemplate,
+the former precedes the latter. God willed that the Father should be the
+God of grace. God willed that the Son should be the Mediator between God
+and men. God willed that the Holy Ghost should dispense his influences
+for carrying into effect the purposes of mercy. These purposes stand
+from eternity--the fruit of the Divine sovereignty--the conscious
+resolutions of the Eternal--the conditions of a sure Covenant. The
+reasons for the fulfilment thereof are the sovereign purposes, and the
+purposes approved of by each person of the adored Godhead, in an
+economic character.
+
+Secondly. God entered into covenant with man in innocence. The Divine
+character was made known to the gifted immortal. The will of God
+claiming obedience and the offer of definite good were presented before
+his mind. He acquiesced, and God was engaged to him and to all his
+posterity in covenant. One ground on which He was to bestow the
+blessings of the Covenant was his own purpose; His making, before his
+creature, and by and before Himself, a promise to confer it, was,
+according to the principle of eternal righteousness, the other.
+
+Thirdly. God enters into covenant with men in Christ. He says to
+them,--"I am the Lord _thy_ God."[600] Believers are taken into God's
+covenant.[601] He made with his people a covenant that shall
+endure.[602] All the promises of God are offers made on HIS part to
+enter into covenant with sinners. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the
+promises made."[603] And, therefore, when these are accepted by men, the
+Lord is to them a God in covenant. The Lord hath on some occasions sworn
+to his people, and by his oath _made_ a covenant with them.[604] The
+Lord brings sinners into the bond of his covenant,[605] and accordingly
+makes with them a covenant. And he keeps, and hence he must have
+_entered into_, covenant with his people.
+
+Finally. The Lord Jesus on earth illustrated in his practice the duty of
+Covenanting. In such a manner as none other than God himself could do,
+he gave it recommendation. Possessed of the nature of man, and being
+true God, he Covenanted with men, as the Head of the Church of God
+himself, and also as a member thereof; and as the Father's servant, in
+Covenanting acknowledged Him. He recognised his disciples as his friends
+and servants; he spake peace to them, and explicitly Covenanting with
+them, saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you," to them he made precious
+promises, which he gave them grace to receive.[606] Waiting on the
+ordinances of religion at Jerusalem, about the close of the Old
+Testament dispensation, unquestionably along with the people of Israel,
+he engaged in various exercises of vowing, and especially in the use of
+the Psalms, so full of holy vows to God; and after the last supper with
+his disciples, two of whom, by the Spirit that dwelt in all of them,
+enjoined the exercise of singing these precious compositions,[607]
+singing a hymn or psalm, he at once sanctioned their use in the worship
+of God, and gave countenance to the devout making of the Covenant
+engagements which they contain. And in those exercises of religion in
+which none of his people could hold communion with him, prayer to his
+Father was accompanied with his own recognition of his engagement to
+fulfil his will. The psalm,[608] a part of which, at least, we know he
+repeated on the Cross, and which is prophetic of his exercises there,
+and his intercessory prayer, contain at least one instance of the making
+or renewing of Covenant engagement on his part, not to be
+forgotten.[609]
+
+II. The Lord, in entering into Covenant, provided an example for
+imitation. By this it is not intended that any are called to engage in
+acts of this nature precisely corresponding with those in which he
+engaged. It would be impossible, as well as impious, for men to imitate
+the making of the Covenant of Redemption, or of that of Works. Nor is it
+meant that men, as perfect beings, are to follow the pattern in this
+set by the Most High; but it is to be understood, that in making a
+promise of good in truth and sincerity, and in taking Himself to
+witness, he is to be imitated by his people in Covenanting, while they
+depend on grace afforded by himself.
+
+First. It is possible for his people, after some manner, to imitate God
+in Covenanting. They cannot imitate him entering into covenant as a
+self-existent, independent Being; nor can they imitate him as in this
+providing benefits which of himself he can bestow; but in some respects,
+by his grace they may. He holds intercourse with those with whom he
+enters into covenants in truth. His people ought to do so with him. He
+makes promises. They ought to do so too. He swears by himself. They
+ought to swear by him. He swears that He may give assurance of his
+intention. They ought to swear for the same reason. Because of his
+hatred to sin he entered into covenant. They should enter into covenant
+with him in order to show their hatred to it. He necessarily loves
+himself, and he loves those with whom he Covenants. By love to him--the
+origin of love to all others, as well as to themselves--they should
+enter into covenant with him. He promises in order that his people may
+have the security of good. They are called by Covenanting to accept his
+promise, that they may have the security afforded by believing his word.
+In entering into Covenant, God honours his own character. Imitating him
+in Covenanting all are called, and they ought, to glorify his name.
+
+Secondly. It is desirable to imitate God in Covenanting. He draws near
+to his people; and should they not draw near to him? God is waiting on
+men to take hold on his covenant. He has entered into covenant with
+others who sought to imitate Him; He offers to do so with us. He
+waits,--Infinity waits and draws while waiting,--Excellence waits, and
+waiting transforms into excellence,--blessings wait, and attract while
+waiting,--He waits on men. To follow finite good, is to seek good,
+though limited. To imitate finite excellence, is to aspire at
+excellence, even though but in part. To take God for an example, is to
+prosecute the course to boundless happiness and honour. Where he walks,
+there is sin rebuked, evil flees away, and corruption dies; there good
+is seen, a field of duty without limit stretches out, happiness
+immeasurable begins, and glory eternal opens. It was by his covenant
+that the scene of heavenly bliss was to be opened to sinners, and
+peopled by them. Taking hold upon it, the unnumbered millions for whom
+it was prepared, in imitation of him, make preparation for it. To follow
+these would be delightful and honouring; but would be to follow what is
+merely a copy, and only finite. What is it then to follow the great
+Original, the provider of glory, and honour, and immortality, to be
+dispensed to the eternal honour of his character,--God himself!
+
+Finally. It is a duty to imitate God in Covenanting. The act of swearing
+by the name of God is holy. The performance of it is inculcated in the
+decalogue. Swearing on the part of the Most High is a manifestation of
+His holiness. Swearing on the part of men is at once an imitating of
+Him, and a holy service. When men endeavour to discharge the duties of
+the ten commandments, they are exercised to holiness, and acting in
+imitation of Him who only is holy. And accordingly these commandments
+are injunctions to imitate God. Enjoining therefore the duty of
+Covenanting, they inculcate that as an imitation of Him--swearing by
+himself. Again, even as the exercise of keeping the Sabbath is enforced
+by the Divine example, so is that of entering into Covenant with God.
+In the fourth commandment, the former duty is explicitly enjoined on
+that ground. "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
+and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord
+blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it."[610] And although the
+observance of no other of the ten precepts is in the like manner
+commanded in them, they may all be viewed as declared obligatory,
+because of the example of God, an illustration of which is presented in
+this. The Lord set an example in the keeping of the Sabbath, and
+therefore men are called to keep it. But to the knowledge of his
+creatures, he acts according to the principles of the other
+commandments, and for the same reason that his example in resting on the
+Sabbath is to be followed, is his regard to the other dictates of his
+law to be made use of as furnishing examples of what to us is duty. He
+has made, and he makes and keeps Covenant engagements: and as his
+keeping of the Sabbath is a reason why his creatures are commanded to
+sanctify it, so his engaging in covenant is a ground on which they are
+called to the duty of vowing and swearing to him. But, besides, the
+exercise along with others, is unequivocally inculcated from the Divine
+example. The Lord said unto Moses, "Speak unto all the congregation of
+the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the
+Lord your God am holy."[611] To be holy, is to obey the Divine law in
+all its parts. The Lord is known to be holy, because he acts according
+to the principles of that law. To Covenant, therefore, is to do a part
+of the duty commanded in the words, "Ye shall be holy;" and to do so for
+the reason, "I, the Lord your God, am holy," is to engage in it
+according to his commands, because he has entered, and because he does
+enter, into covenant. Moreover, this duty would seem to be emphatically
+taught in the words--"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
+without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised.)"[612] The holding
+fast of the profession of faith implies the making of it; and both are
+therefore urged on the ground of the faithfulness of Him that promised;
+and He is introduced here as faithful, not merely in order that his
+people might depend upon him for the good offered, but as presenting to
+them an example according to which all should make and keep engagements
+to their brethren and to Him. And finally, this is shown to be incumbent
+by declarations leading to the imitation of the Redeemer. He Himself
+says, in one of these--"If any man serve me, let him follow me."[613]
+The believer cannot follow Him to imitate him, as a Mediator obeying and
+dying for others. He cannot so follow him as acting in the nature of
+sinless man, or as the living and true God. He cannot so follow him,
+teaching by his Holy Spirit to all nations the way of life and peace. He
+cannot so follow him as a Priest before the throne on high, making
+intercession for sinners. He cannot so follow him in the putting forth
+of almighty power for the conversion and edification of his people. He
+cannot so follow him to the throne of the universe, to rule over all
+things for the glory of God and the good of his people. But in many
+respects, he is required, nay in these words he is enjoined, to follow
+him. In general, in the discharge of all duty, he is called to follow
+him. In particular, to follow him in regarding all the ordinances of
+religion--unfolding a covenant relation to God;--in acknowledging a
+heavenly Father, as a child in covenant alone could do;--and in making a
+solemn confession of the truth of God, saying with him, though in
+circumstances infinitely humbler, "To this end was I born, and for this
+cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the
+truth."[614] His people, were he to bid them, would follow him to prison
+and to death. And will they not habitually follow him--who confessed his
+own Divine character, to confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God
+the Father?[615] Hence, in conclusion,
+
+First. How important the exercise of following the Divine example in
+Covenanting! It gives a peculiar elevation to the mind. We are called to
+duty for the advancement of God's glory, and for our own advantage. And
+when we contemplate aright the exercise as sanctioned by the procedure
+of God, how distinctly are these brought before us! Was it not for the
+advantage of men that God entered into covenant from the days of
+eternity? that he entered into covenant with man in innocence? that he
+entered into covenant with so many of our fallen race?--and will it not
+be for this that He will yet enter into covenant with unnumbered
+millions to come? And as God thus sought the advantage of sinners, will
+they not in imitation of him seek it too? But higher still, was it not
+for his own glory that God revealed himself as a God in Covenant? Was it
+not that he might make known what inherently belonged to Him, and even
+the manifestation of which could not add to his essential greatness? Was
+it not that he might teach his creatures gifted by his bounty while in
+the enjoyment of good to rise above themselves, so as to give scope to
+the manifestation of excellence, lovely because of itself, and not less
+lovely because of its tendency to attract others to be transformed into
+the unfading image of its own loveliness? How then ought all to be drawn
+by imitating God in this, to the manifestation of the excellence of the
+truth, that sinners may behold it, and being enabled to lay hold upon
+it, may drink of that fountain of delight to which it may lead, and
+which to eternity, though drawn upon by each of the redeemed, will
+remain alike unfailing and satisfying to all? And how ought all thus to
+endeavour to manifest that excellence which creatures were brought into
+existence to contemplate, were appointed as means to lead each other to
+examine, and which was to be displayed, not merely for ages, but that
+holy beings might be brought, if not in their natures, at least in their
+conceptions, to think in some small measure adequately of God, to
+eternity!
+
+But again, and finally. To follow the example of God in Covenanting, is
+obligatory through life, and in all ages. The Lord sware in order to
+give men an assurance of the immutability of his purposes of mercy. "For
+when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater,
+he sware by himself."... "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show
+unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
+by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is was impossible
+for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for
+refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us."[616] And in order that
+men may arrive at the assurance of hope, they ought to have recourse to
+the use of this, as well as every other means of grace. The man who
+attempts prayer but once, does not give complete evidence of possessing
+the spirit of prayer; in order to show this, he must pray habitually.
+The individual who attempts to hope, must repeatedly have recourse to
+the exercise, before he have pleasing evidence of the existence within
+him of the hope that maketh not ashamed. Those who would be assured of
+the love of God being shed abroad in their hearts, must have it in
+habitual exercise within them; and those who would have the comforting
+evidence of their being in covenant with God, must feel themselves drawn
+by his example, frequently to acknowledge themselves as devoted to him.
+It is self-evident, that every time that the people of God take hold on
+his Covenant, he, after some manner, makes a covenant with them. Every
+act of Covenanting, therefore, on the part of the saints of God, and
+especially on the part of the believer himself, affords an instance of
+the Divine example inviting him again to the duty. And since the
+Covenant of God from eternity, anticipated all the engagements of time,
+to these believers are drawn by the ever-memorable example presented by
+that. But the example of God in former ages, also extends to all
+succeeding times. The covenant which he made with Abraham, was to
+include men in the later as well as former ages. And if the swearing of
+an oath then, by the Lord himself, was to be imitated by his people
+under any dispensation, it was to be, therefore, imitated during the
+last. And even as the covenant with Abraham, the Everlasting
+Covenant--the origin of that, afforded the giving of the oath of God as
+an example to be followed throughout the whole lapse of time, even until
+those who were given to the Son should be brought by him to that
+glorious inheritance to which they were chosen.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[600] Exod. xx. 2.
+
+[601] Gen. xvii. 2.
+
+[602] 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.
+
+[603] Gal. iii. 16; see also ver. 15, 17
+
+[604] Luke i. 72, 73.
+
+[605] Ezek. xx. 37.
+
+[606] John xvi. 23, 24.
+
+[607] Eph. v. 19. James v. 13.
+
+[608] Ps. xxii; see ver. 22.
+
+[609] John xvii. 26.
+
+[610] Exod. xx. 11.
+
+[611] Lev. xix. 2.
+
+[612] Heb. x. 23.
+
+[613] John xii. 26.
+
+[614] John xviii. 37.
+
+[615] Phil. ii. 11.
+
+[616] Heb. vi. 13, 17, 18.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+COVENANTING A PRIVILEGE OF BELIEVERS.
+
+
+Whatever attainment is made by any as distinguished from the wicked, or
+whatever gracious benefit is enjoyed, is a spiritual privilege. Adoption
+into the family of God is of this character. "He came unto his own, and
+his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he
+power (margin, or, _the right_; or, _privilege_) to become the sons of
+God, even to them that believe on his name."[617] And every co-ordinate
+benefit is essentially so likewise. The evidence besides, that
+Covenanting is a good to which believers, through the grace of God, are
+entitled, is abundant.
+
+First. Believers Covenanting are a people near to God. To be near to
+God, is to have special privilege. "He also exalteth the horn of his
+people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a
+people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord."[618] Those who honour him
+will God honour.[619] But with the lip, and consequently in Covenanting
+as well as otherwise, such draw near to honour him. It is the hypocrisy
+of the Jews, who insincerely attempted this becoming service, that is
+challenged in the words,--"This people draw near me with their mouth,
+and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from
+me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men."[620]
+While, therefore, He sets before the wicked their sin, he honours his
+own, or recognises them as gifted with privilege while they draw near
+to him in the duty. To engage in the idolatry of the ancient heathen, or
+otherwise to fail to recognise God as a God in covenant, was to be far
+from him; while to draw near to him, and, consequently, to acknowledge
+him in vowing to him or otherwise, was good for his saints.[621] Some,
+as examples of all who were uninterested in the Covenant of God, are
+represented as destitute of what are accounted the privileges of the
+covenant children; while the attainments of those after their
+conversion, and which, by being put in contrast with what appertained to
+them in their former state, must be viewed as spiritual privileges, are
+represented as consisting in this,--that they were made nigh by the
+blood of Christ. "Ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
+commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
+having no hope, and without God in the world: but now, in Christ Jesus,
+ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of
+Christ."[622] And, by an apostle, encouragement to enter into the
+holiest by the blood of Jesus, at once a duty including that of
+Covenanting, and certainly a privilege, is given in the language--"Let
+us _draw near_ with a true heart, in full assurance of faith."[623]
+
+Secondly. These Covenanting are in the gracious presence of God. The
+want of this on the part of the wicked being a curse, the enjoyment of
+it by the righteous is a privilege. Cain went out from the presence of
+the Lord, or ceased to attend to the institutions of religion, and thus
+manifested that he had neither enjoyed nor valued the presence of God
+reconciled to him. By suffering them to be removed by the Babylonians
+from their own land, and, consequently, from the ordinances of his grace
+dispensed in his temple, the Lord cast out the wicked of Jerusalem and
+Judah from his presence,[624] or deprived them of those opportunities of
+enjoying his gracious presence which they had not improved. To his
+people among the heathen, even though deprived of the public ordinances
+of Zion, He himself proved a sanctuary.[625] Moses received from the
+Lord, on behalf of Israel, the encouragement, "My presence shall go with
+thee, and I will give thee rest."[626] The promise must, therefore, have
+been fulfilled to them throughout their whole journey to Canaan, and
+especially when about its termination they entered into covenant with
+Him. The agitation of the earth and heavens, when the Lord came down
+upon Mount Sinai, was a striking intimation that Israel there enjoyed
+the presence of God.[627] The covenant blessing of peace was to be
+bestowed, and, consequently, accepted in his gracious presence. "The
+Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee,
+and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,
+and give thee peace."[628] Yea, the upright shall come into his
+presence, confessing his name, and shall continue to enjoy his favouring
+regard. "Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
+(_confession_)."[629] "Surely the righteous shall give thanks
+(_confess_) unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy
+presence."[630]
+
+Thirdly. These Covenanting, see God. As he is in his essential
+character, no man hath seen God at any time. Even of the Redeemer
+himself as God, it is said, "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the
+light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can
+see."[631] It would appear to have been some such manifestation of
+God--altogether incompatible with the capacities of a creature, that
+was denied to Moses when the Lord said to him, "Thou canst not see my
+face; for there shall no man see me, and live."[632] Yet, as Moses,
+though he did not see the glory of God according to his desire, enjoyed
+the gracious presence of God, all his people receive the light of the
+knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.[633] By
+faith, in this manner, both before and after his incarnation, God was to
+be seen in Christ, and especially on occasions of solemn Covenanting. It
+is the blessedness of the pure in heart, that they shall see God.
+Inviting sinners to come unto him, and even formally to take hold upon
+his covenant, the Lord utters the command, "Look unto me, and be ye
+saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none
+else."[634] And lifting up their hand, and their heart, and their eyes
+to him, his people obey. From a verb (חזה) that signifies
+_to see_, come two nouns, one of which (חזה) signifies, _a
+prophet_ and _a covenant_, and the other, (חזות) as we have
+seen,[635] _a vision_, or _a revelation_, and _a covenant_.[636] Hence,
+a covenant with God, in a sense far higher than what is applicable to an
+agreement with mere men, is made in receiving a revelation of his will,
+or seeing him in such a manner as is competent to his people. The
+"cherubim" of the Old Testament, and the "four living creatures" of the
+New,[637]--the one representing the ministers of religion in both
+periods, the other symbolizing the ministers of the gospel in the
+latter, are both represented as full of eyes. Thus described, they
+resemble the prophets of old, denominated "seers." The many eyes
+ascribed to them may point out the enlarged capacities which they should
+have for apprehending Divine things, as well as for rightly observing
+the dispensations of Providence, in order that they might teach the
+people. But from the prophets, and rulers, and seers, who were
+unfaithful, being represented as having had their eyes closed, and the
+people to whom a vision or covenant was addressed, being exhibited as
+unable to read it,[638] and from those who were guilty of idolatry being
+spoken of as blind,[639] it would appear that both the ministers of
+God's sanctuary and his other people, under the former dispensation,
+when they drew near to Him in Covenanting, enjoyed a privilege of which
+the gift of seeing was an emblem. And from the "four living creatures"
+and the "elders"--the one full of eyes, and the other also capable of
+contemplating the Lamb as slain, around the throne, saying, "Thou hast
+made us unto our God kings and priests"--,[640] it would appear that the
+later saints in the house of God on earth were to engage in the exercise
+of taking hold on his Covenant, and as his saints of old, there to enjoy
+the vision of God as a privilege. Yea, even to the Gentiles, enabled to
+apprehend Christ as given for a light to them, it will be vouchsafed as
+a privilege to attend to this. "I the Lord have called thee in
+righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give
+thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles."[641]
+
+Fourthly. These Covenanting, know God, and are known of him. The
+heathen, worshipping idols, are represented as not knowing God. "Howbeit
+then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are
+no gods." And some from among them who had made an insincere profession
+of religion, are reproved for turning from services which, if rightly
+engaged in, would have been discharged by them in such a manner as to
+show that they knew God, but which they had never properly performed.
+"But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how
+turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire
+again to be in bondage?"[642] To know God is, in reality, by faith to
+see God. As He promised to make himself known in a vision,[643] so he
+will give his people to know him in acceding to his Covenant. "The
+secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his
+covenant."[644] The privilege thus described implies in it a knowledge
+of the gracious promise of God's covenant, and consequently, of the
+glory of his character, wrought in them by his Spirit. And those who
+will enjoy it are those who fear him, and consequently, who will
+recognise Him as their God. Hence it is that the expressions "to
+Covenant," and "to know God," may often be put, the one for the other.
+Encouraging his son to cleave to the Lord in covenant, David said,--"And
+thou Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him
+with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind."[645] The Egyptians,
+described as to enter into Covenant with God, it is prophesied, will
+know him. And hence, all brought to acknowledge him in this manner are
+truly blessed. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
+only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."[646]
+
+Fifthly. To these Covenanting, the Lord is favourable. He extends to
+them the light of his countenance. "Offer the sacrifices of
+righteousness; and put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say,
+Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy
+countenance upon us."[647] And He accepts them. "I have not spoken in
+secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of
+Jacob, Seek ye me in vain."[648]
+
+Sixthly. These Covenanting, enjoy communion with God. The wicked do not
+use the name of God, in swearing by him, with acceptance;[649] but his
+people do.[650] And then the Lord speaks to them. "I am with you, saith
+the Lord of hosts: according to the word that I covenanted with you when
+ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you; fear ye
+not."[651] The Lord dwells among his people continually;[652] and hence,
+He is among them when they engage in vowing and swearing to Him; and in
+the language of prophecy, new manifestations of his favour to his people
+are introduced under the representation of the Lord returning to them
+while performing the duty. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for,
+lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And
+many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my
+people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee."[653] Entering into
+covenant with him, they feast before him. The dispensation of all the
+ordinances of religion is represented as a feast; and not less than of
+any other of them is that of Covenanting. A feast is a token of
+friendship. Special solemnities among the people of Israel were
+designated feasts. Covenanting with God sometimes entered into the
+religious exercises performed at these. The blessings of salvation are
+offered as the rich provision of a sumptuous feast, provided and given,
+by the Lord himself. And the reception of them in this exercise belongs
+to the privilege of those accepted, before him. "And in this mountain
+shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a
+feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on
+the lees well refined." "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is
+_our God_; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the
+Lord: we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his
+salvation."[654]
+
+Finally. By his love the Lord constrains his people to take hold on his
+Covenant. Because of the love of God, his chosen are called at once to
+duty and privilege. Duty they perform through the influence of his love
+shed abroad in their hearts; and they enjoy privilege by his love
+extending to them. The Lord Jesus said to his disciples, "If ye love me,
+keep my commandments." The injunction extends to the command regarding
+the commemoration of his death,--"This do in remembrance of me."[655]
+And his people, under the influence of love to him, obey. "For the love
+of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for
+all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live
+should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for
+them, and rose again."[656] But in drawing near to God in the ordinance
+of the Supper, and in other explicit acts of Covenanting, they enjoy the
+manifestations of his love. "He brought me to the banqueting house, and
+his banner over me was love."[657] Even as Jonathan, after David and he
+had entered into a covenant of the Lord, caused David to swear again
+because he loved him,[658] the Lord causes his people, whom by his love
+he had drawn to himself, to swear by his name. "I have loved thee with
+an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn
+thee."[659] "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love."[660]
+Hence,
+
+In conclusion. The observing of the other duties of God's Covenant, as
+well as the taking hold of it, is a privilege. Whatever is enjoyed in
+communion with God is inseparably associated with good to follow. As in
+the keeping of his commandments there is a great reward, so the
+blessedness of high privilege is enduring. The strength afforded for
+duty is a manifestation that privilege has been enjoyed. And the
+bringing forth of the fruits of righteousness, no less than the high
+enjoyment which fitted for causing them to abound, is a special
+blessing. If it is a privilege to vow to God, it is a privilege to
+observe the vow. If his mercy is seen in the giving of a heart to make
+it, certainly it is manifest in the granting of spiritual vigour fully
+to perform its promise. If it is a blessedness to commune with Him of
+all that is within the heart, can it be else to realize, throughout the
+whole period of the performance of engagements solemnly made to him, the
+promise of his Covenant,--"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the
+way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."[661]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[617] John i. 11, 12.
+
+[618] Ps. cxlviii. 14.
+
+[619] 1 Sam. ii. 30; see also John xii. 26.
+
+[620] Is. xxix. 13.
+
+[621] Ps. lxxiii. 27, 28.
+
+[622] Eph. ii. 12, 13.
+
+[623] Heb. x. 22; see also ver. 19, 23.
+
+[624] 2 Kings xxiv. 20.
+
+[625] Is. viii. 14.
+
+[626] Exod. xxxiii. 14.
+
+[627] Ps. lxviii. 8.
+
+[628] Num. vi. 24-26.
+
+[629] Ps. xcv. 2.
+
+[630] Ps. cxl. 13.
+
+[631] 1 Tim. vi. 16
+
+[632] Exod. xxxiii. 20.
+
+[633] 2 Cor. iv. 6.
+
+[634] Is. xlv. 22; see also ver. 23, 24.
+
+[635] Page 222.
+
+[636] The former occurs in the original of Is. xxviii. 15, and the
+latter in that of Is. xxxviii. 18.
+
+[637] Ezek. x. 13; and Rev. iv. 8.
+
+[638] Is. xxix. 10-12.
+
+[639] Is. xlii. 17, 18.
+
+[640] Rev. v. 10.
+
+[641] Is. xlii. 6.
+
+[642] Gal. iv. 8, 9.
+
+[643] Num. xii. 6.
+
+[644] Ps. xxv. 14.
+
+[645] 1 Chron. xxviii. 9.
+
+[646] John xvii. 3.
+
+[647] Ps. iv. 5, 6.
+
+[648] Is. xlv. 19; see also Rom. xii. 1; xv. 16.
+
+[649] Jer. xliv. 26.
+
+[650] Jer. iv. 2.
+
+[651] Hag. ii. 5.
+
+[652] Ps. cxxxii. 14.
+
+[653] Zech. ii. 10, 11.
+
+[654] Is. xxv. 6, 9; see also ver. 7, 8.
+
+[655] 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.
+
+[656] 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.
+
+[657] Song ii. 4.
+
+[658] 1 Sam. xx. 17; see also ver. 16.
+
+[659] Jer. xxxi. 3.
+
+[660] Hos. xi. 4.--Cords and bands here correspond to the bond of the
+Covenant.
+
+[661] Ps. xxxii. 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+COVENANTING ENFORCED BY THE GRANT OF COVENANT SIGNS AND SEALS.
+
+
+To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people,
+various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the
+firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction
+to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on
+memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal
+government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to
+proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people,
+to urge the performance of its duties, and to unfold its blessings. Of
+these signs, some coeval with each one in covenant, and many enduring
+like the covenant itself, even for ever, all declaring that some are in
+covenant with God, and that others will yet also be so in covenant,
+enforce not less than all other duties, yea, especially enforce the duty
+of Covenanting itself. A token deemed necessary to a covenant was
+sometimes freely given: at other times it was requested. Jonathan, in
+token of his covenant with David, "stripped himself of the robe that was
+upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and
+to his bow, and to his girdle." Rahab said to the spies from the camp of
+Israel, "Now therefore I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I
+have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my
+father's house, and give me a true token." For all in covenant with God,
+without their entreaty, have tokens been provided. None attempted to ask
+them in the depth, or in the height above. The Lord himself of his own
+good pleasure bestowed them. And, first,
+
+The rainbow. "God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make
+between me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for
+perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for
+a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to
+pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in
+the cloud: and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you,
+and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more
+become a flood to destroy all flesh."[662] In the provision, here
+announced simply as an appointment of providence, all flesh is
+interested. Noah and his family were interested in the good promised, as
+a covenant blessing. With Noah the Lord had established his covenant
+before the flood. "And, behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters
+upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from
+under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with
+thee will I establish my covenant."[663] For the benefit of the human
+family were given the following instructions:--"And thou shalt come into
+the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with
+thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt
+thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be
+male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their
+kind; of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind; two of every
+sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee
+of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it
+shall be food for thee and for them."[664] After the flood, by the
+mandate of heaven, had retired, and left them in possession of the first
+fruits of the gracious federal grant made to him, "Noah builded an
+altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean
+fowl, and offered burnt-offerings upon the altar. And the Lord smelled a
+sweet savour: and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the
+ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is
+evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing
+living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and
+harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night,
+shall not cease."[665] And having blessed Noah and his sons, and made
+sundry new grants to them, he again declared, "I will establish my
+covenant with you,"[666] and gave his announcement of the bow in the
+cloud as its appointed sign. To mankind alone, of all flesh, that could
+prove a token. For their encouragement alone it was provided. As if God
+had taken sure means that his promise should be fulfilled, he uses the
+language, "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it,
+that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every
+living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth."[667] The promise
+is comprehensive. That a race of living creatures under the dominion of
+man, and for his advantage, should be continued throughout all
+time,--that the family of man, unvisited by the waters of another flood,
+should increase during succeeding ages, it implied: and included that a
+people in covenant with God should be raised up and preserved; grace to
+perform the duties of his covenant be granted; and the acceptance of
+their most solemn services, while they should present offerings of
+righteousness, be afforded to them.
+
+Before the deluge, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
+earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
+evil continually."[668] The term in the original, which is here rendered
+imagination, meaning not merely the conceptions of the mind, but also
+the purposes and desires of the heart, points out the human race
+swallowed up by the flood's destructive waters, as unpossessed of the
+willing mind of God's covenant people. As sustaining the character of
+enemies unto him, they are represented to have said unto God, "Depart
+from us."[669] The billows of Divine wrath threaten all in their
+condition. Contrasted with the state of all such was that of Noah, who
+is described as a just, or justified man, and perfect in his
+generations, or, in his generations attained to holiness in measure, and
+to covenant peace. To all such as he was, the bow in the clouds is a
+pleasing and encouraging sign. That that sign may prove so to all, all
+are thus enjoined,--"Acquaint now thyself with him"--with God--"and be
+at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee."[670]
+
+That the end of this sign might not be forgotten or overlooked, is the
+occasion of its appointment thus celebrated by the Psalmist in a tribute
+of praise:--"Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not
+be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:
+the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the
+voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they
+go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
+Thou has set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not
+again to cover the earth."[671] By a reference to the promise given when
+this sign was appointed, and which it was designed in every season to
+bring again into view, is the sin of idolatry--a breach of covenant with
+God--thus condemned:--"Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not
+tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the
+sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves
+thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet
+can they not pass over it. But this people hath a revolting and a
+rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their
+heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the
+former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed
+weeks of the harvest." The practices of the people so addressed are also
+thus described,--"Though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear
+falsely." "Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no
+gods." And their consequent privations are in like manner introduced.
+"Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have
+withholden good things from you."[672]
+
+That this token was to designate the continuance of a covenant, the
+blessings of which were not merely temporal, but spiritual and eternal
+too, and whose duties--incumbent on those who surround the altar of God
+and swear by his name, should still be performed, we are taught by his
+own words,--"This is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn
+that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I
+sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the
+mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall
+not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
+saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."[673]
+
+To encourage the prophet Ezekiel in discharging the duties of his
+mission to the house of Israel, and also that many to whom his messages
+should be addressed might receive them, this sign, in vision, was
+presented before him. To expostulate with the rebellious house of
+Israel he was sent. The privileges enjoyed by that people he was called,
+in these terms, to describe, "Yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a
+covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine;" and for
+their apostacy, to deliver to them the warning, "Thus saith the Lord
+God, I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised
+the oath in breaking the covenant."[674] He had been commanded to utter
+the corresponding denunciation, "But as for them whose heart walketh
+after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I
+will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord
+God."[675] But he had also been charged with the promise, "I will give
+them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take
+the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of
+flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and
+do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God;"[676] and
+was enjoined to give the prediction, "Nevertheless, I will remember my
+covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto
+thee an everlasting covenant."[677] But the glory of the God of Israel
+meanwhile had appeared--that glory which was seen by him at first, "as
+the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain."[678]
+That his ministry was undertaken by the authority of a God in covenant
+it signified; and announced the certain success which should follow his
+labours, in the conversion of some to be won by offers of mercy, and
+abiding tokens of reconciliation and peace.
+
+The prophetic part of the Book of Revelation--unfolding the history of
+the Church of God, from the days of the apostles till the end of time,
+is introduced by a vision presenting this covenant sign--"A throne was
+set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look
+upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round
+about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald."[679] To the whole
+period, therefore, of the Church's later history, that sign was to
+apply. The "four living creatures"--emblematical of the ministers of the
+gospel, who are also presented in that vision, by this are encouraged to
+exclaim, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is
+to come;" and by this are they and the four and twenty elders, as a
+people in covenant with God, led to adore the Lamb, saying, "Thou art
+worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
+slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred,
+and tongue, and people, and nation;" and to seek to be enabled, as a
+race wholly devoted to God, truly to say, "Thou hast made us unto our
+God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."[680]
+
+And, finally, before the witnesses for Jesus, ordained to witness a good
+confession, and in opposition to ignorance and sin in the world, to
+abide by, yea even to renew, their confession and wonted vows, made by
+all the solemnity of an oath, the same sign is presented. The promise is
+made, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall
+prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
+sackcloth."[681] The work committed to these witnesses was arduous. Nor
+was the finishing of their testimony, in the eyes of the world,
+enviable. But manifestly great was to be their gracious reward, when
+they should ascend up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies behold
+them. The duty to which they were called, and their high enjoyments to
+follow, the little book which John was commanded to eat, contained. It
+appeared open in the hand of that mighty angel--the angel Jehovah--come
+down from heaven, whose face was as it were the sun, and his feet as
+pillars of fire. To assure his servants of the stability of his
+covenant, through which is dispensed his all-sufficient grace, and to
+prompt them faithfully to perform their high duties, in vision he was
+seen clothed with a cloud, and with a rainbow upon his head.[682]
+
+Beauteous is the bow in the cloud in the day of rain. More beauteous
+than what is simply material, is it to the mind's eye as a Covenant
+sign. The colours of that bow, unfaded throughout all ages, have
+continued; and the security of God's covenant is without change. Though
+the waters of another flood will not invade the earth, the flood of
+Divine wrath will swallow up the world of the ungodly. None of God's
+Covenant signs stir them up to duty; and as to each Covenant sign they
+continue wilfully blind, to them no final sign of good will appear. But
+while by them no token of deliverance will be seen, to the righteous,
+the evidence of God's purpose to deliver them will be complete. And when
+his enemies, like the men of old time, who, while the flood's
+destructive waters advanced, may have fled to the mountains for safety,
+will in vain seek deliverance from Divine wrath, his people,
+contemplating the evidence of his gracious regard to them, in triumph
+will acknowledge,--"Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
+and from the multitude of mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the
+salvation of Israel."[683]
+
+But next was given, the sign of Circumcision. "This is my covenant,
+which ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee: every
+man-child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the
+flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt
+me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among
+you, every man-child in your generations; he that is born in the house,
+or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that
+is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs
+be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an
+everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of
+his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his
+people; he hath broken my covenant."[684] This rite, thus described,
+having been instituted on the occasion of a renewal of God's covenant
+with Abraham, signified at least God's acceptance of the patriarch in
+this service, and the acceptance of all who, when suitably called to it,
+should, in renewing their engagements to the Most High, imitate his
+example. And hence obviously, all who should submit to this rite or its
+equivalent, were encouraged thereby to seek privilege, by endeavouring
+individually and socially to renew their vows to the Lord.
+
+Benefit was to be enjoyed through the reception of this sign. The
+reception of it did not imply the attainment of grace; but as a sign, it
+was appointed to denote grace received. Abraham "received the sign of
+circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet
+being uncircumcised."[685] To the enjoyment of all other privileges of
+the visible Church of God, it was introductory and necessary:--"And when
+a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the
+Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and
+keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no
+uncircumcised person shall eat thereof."[686] To the Hebrew people, as
+an inestimable privilege, were committed the oracles of God. "For what
+nation," said Moses to them, "is there so great, who hath God so nigh
+unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him
+for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments
+as all this law, which I set before you this day?"[687] And to them was
+delivered the command, so indicative of good,--"Three times in the year
+all thy males shall appear before the Lord God."[688] Thus access to all
+the means of spiritual advantage was secured, and opportunities of being
+fully addressed by the most varied and powerful motives to duty, were
+provided.
+
+That the efficiency of this rite as a sign might be most complete,
+attention to it was enjoined under the greatest penalty. And that the
+design for which it was given was highly important, would thus appear.
+The character of the duties incumbent on the Israelites moreover
+illustrate this. Every man that was circumcised was debtor to do the
+whole law. And till the Mosaic dispensation should come to an end,
+throughout life his obligation could not decrease. As a member of the
+Church and nation of Israel, by the solemn Covenant engagements of that
+people to God, and to one another, he was bound. To fear the Lord, to
+swear by his name, and to perform his vows, was required of him. And to
+testify to the truth of his profession he bare the sign of God's
+covenant upon him. When Israel under Joshua, had entered the promised
+land, the use of this sign became peculiarly manifest. "At that time the
+Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the
+children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp knives,
+and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins."
+The same individuals were not circumcised twice. The young of the people
+had not been circumcised in the wilderness. Their fathers--who had been
+circumcised in Egypt, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua--died
+before reaching the land of promise. Though the people, while they were
+in the wilderness, having no immediate intercourse with the heathen,
+neglected that duty without being specially reproved for it; yet when
+they came to Canaan, where idolaters abounded, their non-observance of
+it was not to be permitted. In reference to these heathens the command
+had been given, "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their
+gods."[689] And when they came among them, that they might not associate
+with them in their idolatrous rites, but be constantly reminded of their
+own separation to the service of God, the duty was re-injoined, and on
+its performance, "The Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away
+the reproach of Egypt from off you."[690]
+
+Circumcision was given, not merely as a sign to denote God's Covenant,
+but as a seal to give assurance of its benefits, and also of the
+performance of its duties. Abraham by receiving it as a seal of the
+righteousness of faith had confirmed to him the promises on which in
+believing he relied, and was recognised as permanently set apart to
+perform the duties of faith and obedience. Every blessing promised in
+the word of God as if sealed by His own seal, to him and to his
+spiritual seed was thus made sure; and every act of obedience enjoined
+on them, and to which by solemn vow they should become engaged, as
+secured by the seal of his approbation and acceptance, thus were they
+assured, they should by his grace endeavour to perform. But under the
+New Testament dispensation, instead of circumcision as a sign and seal,
+has been instituted the ordinance of
+
+Baptism. All that the other was, as a sign and seal of God's Covenant
+under the former dispensation, this is under the present. To these two
+ordinances, as symbols each of newness of life, and of the forgiveness
+of sin, the apostle in writing to the Colossians, makes the
+reference,--"In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made
+without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
+circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are
+risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath
+raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the
+uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
+having forgiven you all trespasses."[691] And writing to the Church of
+the Romans, who were not circumcised, but had been baptized, he declares
+of Abraham,--"He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
+righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised; that he
+might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not
+circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also."[692]
+Was that enjoined by Divine authority? So was this. "Go ye therefore,
+and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
+the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,"[693] is the Saviour's command. Was he
+circumcised according to the law? At the hand of his servant John, he
+received baptism. And baptism along with repentance and faith was
+preached by the apostles. To the enjoyment of other outward privileges,
+as circumcision was, this is the first step. When any acceded to the
+offers of the gospel, baptism was administered to them. The cases of the
+Ethiopian eunuch, Lydia and her household, many of the Corinthians, and
+others, are instances; of spiritual blessings in all their extent this
+is a sign and seal. This the apostle Peter adverted to, when he said,
+"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ,
+for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
+Ghost."[694] And this truth, no less emphatically these words
+declare,--"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For
+as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
+There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
+neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye
+be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
+promise."[695] And finally, of Covenant duties, would it thus appear too
+the sign and seal. "The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also
+now save us, (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the
+answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus
+Christ."[696] Baptism is a sign of the outpouring of the Spirit of
+Christ. His effusion on the day of Pentecost was in fulfilment of the
+prophecy,--"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my
+Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
+your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And
+also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour
+out my Spirit."[697] And his influences by another prophet are thus
+promised,--"I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon
+thine offspring." And if, of such benefits as these, baptism is an
+appointed token and security, can it be less a sign and seal of these
+their glorious effects,--"They shall spring up as among the grass, as
+willows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and
+another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall
+subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name
+of Israel"?[698] But after circumcision, was appointed as a sign,
+
+The Sabbath. Like the rainbow, the sabbath had been from the beginning.
+At a period of the world when many habitually disregarded it, was it
+given as a Covenant sign. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak
+thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye
+shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your
+generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify
+you." "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to
+observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual
+covenant."[699] That the end of keeping the sabbath was to cherish the
+conviction that the Lord sanctified his people, these words of
+institution declared. But by taking them into covenant with himself, and
+causing them to keep his covenant, the Lord sanctified them. "The Lord
+hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath
+promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to
+make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in
+name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the
+Lord thy God, as he hath spoken."[700] To vow unto him singly, or
+unitedly, was a duty of his covenant. To do this his people were
+sanctified. And hence, of this, as well as of each other religious
+service, the sabbath was a sign.
+
+Those who keep the sabbath will enjoy the privileges of God's people.
+"If thou turn away from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy
+day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable;
+and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
+pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself
+in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
+earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the
+mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."[701] But Covenanting is one of the
+privileges of the heritage of Jacob. Those, therefore, who keep the
+sabbath, that they may enjoy in full the gracious benefits promised to
+them, will have it put into their hearts individually, and often in a
+social capacity, to enter into and renew, solemn covenant engagements
+with the Most High.
+
+The institution of the sabbath itself has afforded calls for engaging in
+the practice of vowing to God. Moved by a sense of duty, Nehemiah and
+others returned to Jerusalem, contemplating the evils to which they were
+exposed from the example of the heathen, with a zeal worthy the adoption
+of all in times of abounding sin, engaged in solemn covenant with God to
+keep the sabbath, as well as discharge other bounden duties. "They clave
+to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an
+oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God,
+and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his
+judgment and his statutes; and that we would not give our daughters unto
+the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: and if
+the people of the land bring ware, or any victuals, on the sabbath-day
+to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the
+holy-day."[702]
+
+The continuation of the sabbath is a provision for the observance of
+every religious service. In opposition to the worldliness of men's
+hearts, by the arrangements of a beneficent providence, first the
+seventh-day sabbath, and afterwards the Christian sabbath, was granted
+and preserved to the Church of God. That the ordinances of religion
+should not fail to be dispensed or waited on, the sabbath was given; and
+for this end, throughout every age, it will be kept. On that day
+especially, the worship of God is conducted in his sanctuary, and
+through the preaching of the gospel are the blessings of God's covenant
+freely offered, and its duties illustrated and enjoined. Where there is
+no sabbath, religion is unknown. Where the sabbath is not kept, the
+benefits of religion are not enjoyed, and the law of God as a rule of
+duty is not regarded. The insensibility of conscience that permits to
+contemn the injunction to keep holy the sabbath, will not, because of
+the authority of God, condemn the breach of any other of his commands.
+The ungodliness, and not infrequent immorality of sabbath-breakers,
+fearfully show how dangerous it is to trifle with or despise any Divine
+precept, and especially exhibit the evil to which they expose
+themselves, who, refusing to sanctify this day, are unaddressed by this
+as a sign of good, and unsolicited by this or any other Divine ordinance
+to resolve to cleave to holiness, the end of which is life and peace.
+When the sabbath is not kept, the ordinary duties of religion are not
+performed. The sign of God's covenant being dishonoured, no blessing of
+his covenant can be enjoyed, nor covenant duty be discharged. As a
+reason for pouring out his judgments upon the people of Israel, the Lord
+declared to them, "Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned
+my sabbaths."[703] And when a restoration to the privileges of the
+sabbath is foretold, regard to them as a people in covenant is promised.
+Is it said,--"For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height
+of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all
+of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will
+I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with
+all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I
+bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries
+wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before
+the heathen." In connection with this is given the assurance, "And I
+will cause you to pass under the rod,"--as sheep under the rod of the
+shepherd--"and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant."[704] The
+good promised to those who keep the sabbath, whether viewed as positive
+privilege, or as a disposition and fitness to obey Divine injunctions,
+is most extensive; while the evil threatened for the desecration of it
+is appalling indeed. What less than the highest privileges of the saints
+on earth is offered in the promise, "And it shall come to pass, if ye
+diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden
+through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, but hallow the
+sabbath-day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the
+gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David,
+riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of
+Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for
+ever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places
+about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and
+from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt-offerings, and
+sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of
+praise, unto the house of the Lord"? And how dreadful the threatening,
+"But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath-day, and not
+to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the
+sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it
+shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be
+quenched"?[705] But as a sign of God's covenant, we are called to
+contemplate also,
+
+The Priesthood. A people in covenant with God, and a nation of priests
+are one. "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
+covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:
+for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests,
+and an holy nation."[706] At a period long posterior to the days of
+Moses, and in reference even to gospel times, was applied the same
+character, "Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call
+you the ministers of our God."[707] The apostle Peter, addressing the
+people of Israel scattered throughout sundry regions, thus also
+describes them,--"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual
+house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
+to God by Jesus Christ.... Ye are a chosen generation, a royal
+priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth
+the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
+marvellous light."[708] And to this description given by the apostle,
+primarily of the dispersion, but not limited to them, corresponds that
+by another apostle of himself and all who believe, in their grateful
+adoration,--"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
+own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;
+to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."[709]
+
+In order to commemorate the deliverance which God wrought for Israel
+when he slew the first-born of Egypt, for a sign he claimed, as
+consecrated to himself, all the first-born of their males, "Thou shalt
+set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling
+that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord's."
+"And it shall be for a token upon thine hands, and for frontlets between
+thine eyes: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of
+Egypt."[710] The first-born of their sons represented the whole nation
+as a holy priesthood. Princes and heads of families, whether fathers or
+eldest sons--succeeding to their fathers' privileges--had performed the
+duties of priests. Such a character, therefore, the first-born in Israel
+would have come to sustain. When religious services should have been
+performed by them, the whole people, as a nation of priests, would have
+worshipped. And of whatever they were the token, the people at large,
+accordingly, were also the sign. But instead of them, subsequently the
+tribe of Levi was taken, and the special duties of the priesthood were
+confined to Aaron and his sons. Hence that appointed priesthood, and the
+Levites their attendants, conducted public services instead of, and for
+the whole nation, a kingdom of priests. And as the first-born of Israel
+were a sign of a great deliverance wrought for them because of his
+covenant, the people themselves, the ordained priesthood among them
+were, and all the people of God will continue to be, a Covenant sign.
+
+And according to their character is this holy priesthood as a sign
+employed. Different from the other signs, their language with theirs is
+designed to harmonize. As willing ministers of God's pleasure, to other
+signs they give regard, proving themselves a living sign. When the
+rainbow displays its spiritual glories, by others unperceived, like Noah
+standing by the altar of God, they present sacrifices of thanksgiving,
+or vow and swear to him. When the Sabbath points out a rest from sin,
+and deliverance from its consequences, they seek to sanctify it, and
+keep it as a sign and pledge of the rest provided for them in the
+covenant. And having in baptism had the name of God named upon them,
+endeavouring to depart from all iniquity, they manifest themselves as by
+purchase and conquest, and their own personal surrender, truly his.
+
+In some respects are all the ordinances of religion a Covenant sign, and
+it is as set apart to wait on these that the holy priesthood displays a
+like character. To them in all their extent are applicable the words of
+the Lord concerning Phinehas,--"Behold, I give unto him my covenant of
+peace."[711] As lights in the world, and as a devoted people, they have
+verified to themselves the promise,--"They shall teach Jacob thy
+judgments and Israel thy law; they shall put incense before thee, and
+whole burnt-sacrifice upon thine altar;" being faithful in discharging
+their solemn obligations, and thus illustrating the duty of paying the
+vow, their conduct, in vowing and fulfilling their engagements, receives
+the approval--"they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant;"
+encouragement from above is vouchsafed to them in their peculiar
+character, in the words of prayer,--"Bless Lord, his substance, and
+accept the work of his hands;" and thus, the assurance that as a sign
+they shall be preserved,--"smite through the loins of them that rise up
+against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again."[712]
+
+God's covenant with his people is the covenant of a priesthood. And to
+secure the dispensation of the means of grace, that was given. The
+ministry of reconciliation and the Church at large are co-ordinate.
+Where the one is promised, the other also will be bestowed in due time.
+Where the ministers of the word are, there, to a greater or less extent,
+will be a Church. And a Church will seek to itself the ministering
+servants of Christ. Where the ordinances of religion are properly
+dispensed, there is a Church; and there an appointed instrumentality, in
+greater or less measure, presents the mind of Christ. When his servants
+dispense the ordinances of his grace, God speaks to his people. And as
+a people in covenant with Him, to his words they are called to assent.
+His servants are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech by
+them, they beseech sinners to be reconciled unto him. Like the Church
+itself in the world, the continuance of the ambassadors of Christ shows
+that God is waiting to be gracious. They who despise their messages
+declare themselves his enemies. Like the recal of an envoy, which
+betokens approaching hostilities, the removal of the servants of Christ
+from among a people, declares that the Lord is about to deal with them
+as his foes. When Churches become corrupt, this is the case. When the
+righteous are removed from among them, and the ecclesiastical
+constitution is in opposition to his will, the whole body is out of
+Covenant, and what was the temple of God becomes the receptacle of
+idols. When the Lord was angry with his professed people, he suffered a
+lying spirit to enter the mouth of their prophets. And to the people as
+a whole, in token of their rejection, he said, "Thou shalt be no priest
+to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget
+thy children."[713] But notwithstanding the defections of many such, the
+Lord will raise him up a faithful priesthood. It is expressed in the
+anticipation, "The children of thy servants shall continue, and their
+seed shall be established before thee;"[714] and pledged in the promise,
+"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Hence the
+encouragement, "I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which
+shall feed you with knowledge and understanding;"[715] and the duties
+defined, "The priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek
+the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of
+hosts."[716]
+
+Those faithful to the covenant of the priesthood are approved, while
+the desecrators thereof are fearfully condemned. How encouraging the
+approbation, "Ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you,
+that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. My
+covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the
+fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of
+truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he
+walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from
+iniquity!" And how cheering the promise, in its ultimate spiritual
+reference not less applicable to the whole spiritual priesthood than it
+was primarily to the sons of Aaron!--"But the priests the Levites, the
+sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of
+Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto
+me."[717] But denounced are the others thus challenged, "Ye are departed
+out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have
+corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts." An apostate
+priesthood taught the people to swear at once by the Lord, and by
+Malcham--the abomination of the Sidonians--a false god. To cut off
+these, and the victims of their deceit, the Lord stretched out his hand.
+And to mark the care with which he watched over the faithful
+dispensation of his own ordinances, and observed every deviation from
+them, as designed to present the privileges and duties of his covenant,
+were also uttered his words, "Cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his
+flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing:
+for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful
+among the heathen."[718]
+
+A priesthood was recognised when God entered into covenant with Noah,
+and with Abraham; and throughout all time was a priesthood to be
+approved as a covenant sign. Had it not been for the Everlasting
+Covenant, the rite of sacrifice had not been instituted, and a
+priesthood had not been. But that the ratification of that covenant by
+the glorious Surety might first be prefigured, and next had in
+commemoration, was given this sign. To intimate the ratification of
+God's covenant with his people, as at Horeb, the blood of sacrifice by
+the priesthood was sometimes sprinkled; and, consequently, the
+priesthood, under the law, kept up the remembrance of the covenant, and
+pointed forward to its final confirmation. The later priesthood, the
+people of God under the gospel, in offerings of praise, record that one
+sacrifice by which it was rendered sure, and hence they, as well as all
+else of the holy priesthood, to its special duties of vowing and
+swearing, from their peculiar character, became engaged.
+
+Although of those who ministered at the altar under a former
+dispensation, it is said by an apostle, "those priests were made without
+the swearing of an oath,"[719] we are not to suppose them as not indeed
+by covenant set apart to the duties of the Levitical priesthood; nor are
+we to suppose that the people of God, as a holy priesthood in general,
+whom those priests represented, do not sustain their character in virtue
+of Covenant arrangements. Those priests, on believing, were entitled to
+the blessings promised and secured by the oath of God to Abraham's seed.
+And so were the rest of his Covenant people. Moreover, the Lord sware to
+his people at Horeb, when, in addition to the moral law, he enjoined all
+those other laws, among which stand the statutes regarding the
+priesthood of Aaron. To his people then present, whether priests or not,
+and to his people who should descend from them, throughout the period
+over which the covenant there made should extend, his oath was given;
+and seeing it was then given, when his people individually acceded to
+his covenant, or his faithful servants to the duties of the sanctuary,
+it was not repeated. It was only when a new promise was made, or an
+enlargement or an illustration of one formerly made was given, or when,
+for his Covenant's sake, he denounced wrath on his enemies, that the
+Lord sware to his people. And the day of conversion, of entering upon
+office, and ordinary seasons of solemn Covenanting, could not afford
+such occasions as these. It is in contrast with Christ, the great High
+Priest of our profession, that those priests are introduced by the
+apostle, as made without an oath. To the covenant of the Levitical
+priesthood, the Lord did not append a new and separate oath. The nation
+of Israel before, by the oath of God, had been set apart as a nation of
+kings and priests. And when that priesthood was appointed, they merely
+entered on the enjoyment of privileges formerly promised, and came under
+renewed obligation to perform appointed duties. But in addition to the
+oath of God to his Son from eternity, upon the occasion of his taking
+upon him--in the nature of God-man, the office of His priesthood, in
+order to show its speciality His oath was also given. There was not the
+same regard to be paid to the type that belonged to the antitype,--to
+the priesthood under the law that was due to the priesthood of Christ.
+The priests under the law were not appointed to their office as if they
+had been principals. It was reserved for Christ to be so appointed.
+Perfection was not by the Levitical priesthood. Those priests were made
+so after the law of a carnal commandment, and hence to the duties of the
+priesthood by Covenant engagement were pledged. Christ on the other
+hand, to perform the high functions of his priesthood, was also in
+solemn covenant voluntarily engaged; but that testimony might be borne
+to the dignity of his character and perfection of his work, by the oath
+of God again given, he was made priest. Besides, that oath was sworn to
+him as not merely a priest, but as the Surety and Mediator of the new
+covenant. "The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for
+ever after the order of Melchizedec." And, "by so much was Jesus made a
+surety of a better testament." To none of the priesthood under the law,
+did the title of mediator appertain. "But now hath he obtained a more
+excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better
+covenant, which was established upon better promises."
+
+And through Christ come all the distinguishing features, and all the
+high privileges of his people, as an holy priesthood. To secure
+blessings spiritual and eternal to the people of God, the Lord sware to
+his Son. In what was promised to him by the oath of God, his people--a
+nation of kings and priests, are interested. He is a king; his people
+sit down with him on his throne. He is a priest; his people desire to
+fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in their
+flesh, for his body's sake, which is the Church; and while they neither
+possess nor claim merit on account of their deeds, rejoice inasmuch as
+they are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
+revealed, they may be glad also with exceeding joy. And by and through
+the oath by which he was constituted priest, were they in general set
+apart to their functions,--to covenant, to pray, to praise, to present
+spiritual sacrifices to God, acceptable through himself. Because of the
+priesthood of Christ, the priesthood under the law was instituted.
+Because of the priesthood of Christ, through which was to be ratified
+God's covenant, his people--a holy priesthood, to act as vowers or
+Covenanters, were appointed. Their existence, while they claim an
+interest in its blessings, and resolve and endeavour to perform its
+duties, testifies to its character and design, and displays how vast was
+the glory and blessedness that lay couched in the oath of the Father to
+his incarnate Son. But next, in accordance with the last sign, we have
+promised as a Covenant sign,
+
+The New Heart. "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a
+new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not
+according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day
+that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt;
+which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith
+the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house
+of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their
+inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
+they shall be my people." Signally contrasted with the hearts of those
+of whom it is said, "Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone,
+lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts
+hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets," the heart thus promised
+as a new covenant blessing, is essentially a new heart. Unlike the
+adamant stone, resisting the engraver's chisel, but made soft to receive
+impressions of truth, it sustains the character of an heart of
+flesh--substituted for the former, the stony heart. And those blessed
+with it have had realized to them the promise, "I will give them one
+heart, and I will put a new spirit within you."
+
+Being a new Covenant blessing, the new heart is a new Covenant sign. A
+holy priesthood are a people set apart to the service of God. A new
+heart is the distinguishing feature of those so set apart. Though not
+palpable to the men of the world, it gives evidence of its own
+existence, not equivocal; and diffusing its stores, makes known the
+fountain whence it derived them, and proclaims the end for which its own
+constitution was given. Like hypocrites in every age, many of the
+ancient Israelites brake God's covenant, or, in other words, they gave
+evidence that in his covenant they never had an interest. But the Lord's
+covenant could not be allowed to fail. Although many disregarded his
+injunctions, and did their utmost to discredit that covenant, yet that
+covenant was not to be dishonoured; for in his mercy he should bring
+again of the Hebrews many to wait on the ordinances of his grace. Under
+a new dispensation, he should give fresh prominency to spirituality of
+mind; and by his Spirit, who, as formerly to his people, should write
+his laws upon their hearts, cause his impressions to remain when the
+former system of services should have ceased to exist, but where the
+motives to obedience should, in the preaching of the gospel, be
+immediately addressed. Various spirits may jointly or successively take
+possession of those in a state of sin. Yea, the common operations of the
+Spirit of the Lord, as when the conscience is aroused, and even
+sometimes his extraordinary operations, may be upon them. But to them
+meanwhile may not be given the one enduring new heart. To some, as to
+Balaam, for wise purposes, by the Spirit it may have been given to see a
+vision of the Almighty; and to others may be given, as God gave to Saul,
+another heart; and still there may not be bestowed a new heart. To seek
+this, however, that they may live, and hence, as a Covenant people,
+serve the Lord, all are thus enjoined,--"Cast away from you all your
+transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart
+and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"[720]
+
+Under various aspects is the new heart presented as a Covenant sign. As
+a heart circumcised is it thus described. To the people of Israel, as
+debtors to the whole law, Moses declares,--"Only the Lord had a delight
+in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even
+you above all people, as it is this day. Circumcise therefore the
+foreskin of your heart." And in illustration of the duty required of
+them thus commanded to obey, at the same time he gives the
+injunction,--"Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God: him shalt thou serve,
+and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name."[721] And in like
+manner, along with the injunction, "circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
+and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and
+inhabitants of Jerusalem," is given the promise, "Thou shalt swear, The
+Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the
+nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory."
+Strangers brought into God's sanctuary to pollute it, and charged by him
+with having broken his covenant, are described as uncircumcised in heart
+and in flesh;[722] and in an evil age the house of Israel are classed
+with the uncircumcised heathen, as uncircumcised in heart.[723] Yea, to
+the unbelieving Jews the martyr Stephen applies the same character. But
+of those who are in covenant with God, as the Jews were, an apostle
+furnishes the delineation,--"He is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
+circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;
+whose praise is not of men, but of God."[724] Again, as a perfect heart,
+is the new heart obviously a Covenant sign. The new heart is that which
+believes. That is the true heart; and those possessed of it, like
+Hezekiah, who walk before the Lord in truth, manifest an integrity which
+distinguishes all who, being at peace with God, are in covenant for
+ever dedicated to him. Thus, before the Lord, David walked in integrity
+of heart; and of a descendant who sat upon his throne, and who with his
+people "entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers
+with all their heart and with all their soul,"[725] is left the record
+to his honour,--"Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his
+days."[726] And finally, as one heart is this sign a Covenant token.
+Contrasted with the heart in its natural sinful condition, which is
+deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, it is constituted a
+reprover of those who, vowing to the Lord, swear deceitfully. Different
+from the double heart vainly attempting at once to do homage to God and
+mammon, it is wholly devoted to the Lord. And due to the operation of
+the Spirit of God, it is disposed to unite with others his like
+workmanship in faithfully resolving together, and jointly endeavouring
+to promote his glory. This the Lord himself conferred, when, upon the
+occasion of Hezekiah commanding all Israel to keep the passover, it was
+in his heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his
+fierce wrath might turn away from them. "Also, in Judah, the hand of God
+was to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the
+princes, by the word of the Lord."[727] This the Lord also promised,
+when he said, "I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may
+fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after
+them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not
+turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their
+hearts, that they shall not depart from me."[728] And this he has often
+made his people to experience, as on the day of Pentecost, when the
+multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; and
+when by casting their effects into one common fund, they furnished, of
+their common interest in one gracious inheritance, the most affecting
+emblem that men have given. But, finally,
+
+Christ was given for a sign of God's Covenant. A prophet, by
+inspiration, had exclaimed, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord
+hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of
+hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion."[729] And by an apostle, these
+words are represented as employed by the Saviour, having in union with
+the Divine nature the nature of man.[730] In mount Zion, the Lord of
+hosts dwells as a covenant God. His children, a holy priesthood, are
+from him as a covenant sign; and from him also, as the most
+distinguished covenant sign, is his Son--the great high priest of our
+profession, himself sanctified by suffering. That all ends of the earth
+should see the salvation of God had been predicted. On the record of
+inspiration, too, had appeared the promise, "I the Lord have called thee
+in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give
+thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." That in
+Christ both were fulfilled, was attested by Simeon, to whom it was
+revealed by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had
+seen the Lord's Christ. He took up the child Jesus in his arms, "and
+blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
+peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
+which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to
+lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."[731]
+Moreover, in prophecy was delivered the message, "The Lord himself shall
+give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
+shall call his name Immanuel." In Jesus, the promised son was
+recognised. When the birth of his forerunner John suggested that He
+should soon appear, an honoured believer "was filled with the Holy
+Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he
+hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of
+salvation for us, in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the
+mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that
+we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate
+us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his
+holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham." And when
+he was prosecuting his ministry, then had been fulfilled the promise,
+"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before
+me: and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even
+the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall
+come, saith the Lord of hosts."
+
+Of the existence of the Everlasting Covenant, Jesus was a token. The Old
+Testament economy, and that of the New, were dispensations of the
+Covenant of Redemption. Under the former, Christ and his work were
+typified and predicted. Under the latter, these are commemorated. Under
+both, these were to be preached. Christ, appearing as the substance of
+the truth announced under both, was given a sign of that everlasting
+Covenant whence they took their origin. Had that covenant been but in
+theory, Christ had not appeared. His appearance declared it fact. As the
+Father's Servant, and consequently as in covenant with him, he was
+promised. His mission, to fulfil his Father's will, declared his
+obligations. The oath sworn to him, as a priest after the order of
+Melchizedec, pointed out their nature; and his manifestation in the
+flesh, and the perfect righteousness which he wrought out, abundantly
+signified their covenant origin, and reality, and design.
+
+Christ was given as a token of the Covenant's ratification. In his
+questions put to the Jews regarding a prophetic psalm, the Redeemer
+testified to the Father's oath, sworn to himself as the new covenant
+Surety. The gracious words which he spake gave evidence that the Father,
+in fulfilment of his promise, had put his Spirit upon him. His
+resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, completed the
+evidence of the Father's faithfulness in fulfilling the promise of glory
+and honour made unto him, which his mediatorial career on earth
+supplied; and his bringing of every new son to glory adds to its amount.
+And that, as on the part of the Father of mercies his covenant should be
+ratified, so, on his own part, it should not fail, he afforded an
+all-impressive sign. He magnified the law and made it honourable. He
+obeyed its precepts; he poured out his soul unto death. Concerning his
+work existed the prediction, "As for thee, also, by the blood of thy
+covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no
+water."[732] He predicted his own sufferings and death. He submitted to
+the injuries inflicted on him by his enemies; he bare the load of God's
+wrath; he laid down his life. Of him an inspired apostle writes, "Now
+the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
+great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
+covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will."[733] In
+heaven he stands as a Lamb slain, and receives the adoration of the four
+living creatures, and of the four and twenty elders, "Thou art worthy to
+take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and
+hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue,
+and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and
+priests."[734] By his people on earth throughout all ages, by the eye of
+faith, thus promised, and given, and glorified, as a sign of his
+covenant's complete confirmation will he be contemplated; and by them as
+such for ever, with joy unspeakable in the house above.
+
+Christ was a sign of the dispensation of the blessings of God's
+Covenant. The Lord made to Abraham the promise, "In thy seed shall all
+the nations of the earth be blessed;" and this promise, illustrated by
+an apostle, refers to Christ. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the
+promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one,
+And to thy seed, which is Christ."[735] Hence, when he assumed the
+nature of man, it was signified, that the spiritual experiences of the
+former saints on earth were not imaginary, but real; their entrance into
+glory thereafter beyond dispute; and their title to immortal bliss
+secure. And also was betokened the certain glory in reserve for all
+others favoured with increased heavenly light, and enabled to believe.
+He himself taught the doctrines of a judgment to come, an everlasting
+punishment, and a heavenly rest. His miracles attested the truths which
+he taught, and proved him a token of their reality. At his birth, there
+was commissioned to announce it an angel, and with him "a multitude of
+the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest,
+and on earth peace, good will toward men." And signally, indeed, had
+been announced by his appearance, that peace--his covenant provision. He
+himself, the greatest inconceivably of every covenant blessing, had been
+given. Could a doubt then remain, when he averred it, that spiritual
+blessings had been enjoyed by his saints before, and that every
+spiritual blessing in due time should be afforded to all brought to fear
+him? The greatest of all benefits was freely conferred; and had there
+not been, through him, and would there not be, bestowed the less? "He
+that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
+he not with him also freely give us all things."[736]
+
+Through Christ the Everlasting Covenant was to be made known, and
+forever had in remembrance. What events for importance are comparable to
+the occurrences connected with his sojourn on earth? What a privilege
+the Church enjoyed, when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among them,
+and they beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
+Father, full of grace and truth! Nor could that be forgotten, nor its
+glorious design. The splendour of the cloud of God's promise could not
+be forgotten; and could the shades of oblivion cover the advent of Him
+who appeared as the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express
+image of his person? By all enabled to behold his glory, is he received
+as an enduring token of good, yea, as the abiding reality of all good.
+All his people shall so receive him. In covenant, the heathen were given
+to him for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his
+possession. And the darkness which covers the earth, the gross darkness
+that covers the people, shall be dispelled, and all ends of the earth
+shall see the salvation of God. The sun was placed in heaven for a sign.
+The Sun of Righteousness has arisen with healing in his beams. As an
+everlasting sign, he shall throughout all ages point out his covenant
+for his people. Their sun shall no more go down; the Lord shall be their
+everlasting light.
+
+And He is a token that the duties of God's Covenant had been performed,
+and that, moreover, they would still be discharged. He himself fulfilled
+the conditions of that covenant; and because of his righteousness
+alone, the services of his people in all ages, are accepted. Their
+acceptance implies that these were enjoined. In faith in a Saviour to
+come, the saints in Old Testament times, while they waited on God's
+ordinances, or were employed about the things of the world, endeavoured
+to give obedience; and in faith thereafter, his people looking to him,
+still attempt to obey him. His work was approved, and hence their faith
+was not in vain; and these services were received as faithful attempts
+to perform their obligations. That the Saviour hath overcome, is a token
+to his people that they also shall overcome. And hence, in imitation of
+Him who, as his Father's covenanted Servant, fulfilled his will, they
+put forth their efforts to perform what he requires; and their
+conviction is expressed by an apostle,--"I can do all things through
+Christ which strengtheneth me."[737] To Him, for grace to give
+obedience, all are commanded, and many are privileged, to look. "Thus
+saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
+but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to
+Beer-sheba."[738] To seek places where heathen deities were worshipped,
+was to sacrifice unto those idols, and to swear by them. To seek the
+Lord, accordingly, was to wait upon his ordinances, whether in
+presenting offerings unto him, in vowing or otherwise calling on his
+name. And hence appears the nature of the exercises to which both Jews
+and Gentiles are called, when to them is realized the prediction,--"And
+in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an
+ensign to the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall
+be glorious.... And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall
+assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of
+Judah from the four corners of the earth."[739] Again, we find the
+command, "Seek the Lord, and his strength; seek his face for evermore."
+And to point out the nature of the duties which it includes, are those
+to whom it was first tendered, thus addressed,--"O ye seed of Abraham
+his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the Lord our God;
+his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for
+ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations."[740] Where
+a most emphatic promise is made, that the duty of vowing and swearing to
+the Lord shall be discharged, occurs the declaration, "I have not spoken
+in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of
+Jacob, Seek ye me in vain. I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare
+things that are right."[741] And the man who, seeking God, shall ascend
+unto the hill of the Lord, and stand in his holy place, is described in
+language that certainly not merely refers to the oath as given to
+confirm testimony, but also as given in vowing other duties to the Lord,
+as "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up
+his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." For their apostacy, the
+Hebrew people were cast out of the good land that had been covenanted to
+their fathers; and for many ages they have been scattered among all
+nations. But as, for their breach of covenant, they were cast off, and
+the goodly heritage that had been given them became waste; so, at their
+restoration to the precious privileges which through unbelief they
+forfeited, to this glorious Object they themselves, and with them the
+heathen nations, shall look as to a covenant sign. "He said, It is a
+light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of
+Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for
+a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end
+of the earth." "Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard
+thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve
+thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the
+earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages."[742]
+
+How glorious this sign!--The Messenger of the Covenant, the Mediator of
+the New Covenant, Immanuel--God with us! But for his covenant, he had
+remained unseen by the eye of man. To make that known, he made his
+fallen creatures see God. The universe of material nature is glorious.
+More glorious is the intelligent creation. Both together are tokens of
+God's wisdom, and goodness, and power. But what was to be a token of his
+attributes in all their glory displayed in the salvation of man? The
+laws which he has given to his creatures are tokens of his will
+concerning them. But what creatures could sufficiently denote his
+covenant, its blessings, and its duties? The sabbath, and circumcision,
+were each, at once a privilege and a duty, and, as well as other things,
+a sign of the Covenant. But what among the effects of Jehovah's
+sovereignty, could betoken it in all its glory? Its effects on creatures
+being finite, what is finite might these in some measure point out. But
+could any dependent being fully designate its glorious origin, and
+infinite Surety? The world is finite, though due to Almighty power, and
+so are its ordinances; and a finite being might betoken these. Miracles
+of healing, raising the dead, of controlling the material world, and the
+actions of angels and men, and of bringing from spiritual death to life
+are all finite, but beyond the might of less than Almighty power. And
+all these in some measure by some creature as a token might be
+signified. But the law of God embodied in his covenant is exceeding
+broad; its blessings are inconceivably great. God is the author of the
+Covenant. God is the mediator of the Covenant. God in his own nature and
+in the nature of man, is the glorious body to which are spiritually
+united the children of the Covenant. God, in the nature of man, alone
+could have afforded a manifestation of the Covenant adequate to its
+character. Behold, then, as the most glorious display that has been made
+of God or his ways, the Lord Jesus given to denote the Covenant that had
+been made for the people!
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[662] Gen. ix. 12-15.
+
+[663] Gen. vi. 17, 18.
+
+[664] Gen. vi. 18-21.
+
+[665] Gen. viii. 20-22.
+
+[666] Gen. ix. 11.
+
+[667] Gen. ix. 16.
+
+[668] Gen. vi. 5.
+
+[669] Job xxii. 17.
+
+[670] Job xxii. 21.
+
+[671] Ps. civ. 5-9.
+
+[672] Jer. v. 22-24, 2, 7, 25.
+
+[673] Is. liv. 9, 10.
+
+[674] Ezek. xvi. 8, 59.
+
+[675] Ezek. xi. 21.
+
+[676] Ezek. xi. 19, 20.
+
+[677] Ezek. xvi. 60.
+
+[678] Ezek. i. 28.
+
+[679] Rev. iv. 3.
+
+[680] Rev. v. 9, 10.
+
+[681] Rev. xi. 3.
+
+[682] Rev. x. 1.
+
+[683] Jer. iii. 23.
+
+[684] Gen. xvii. 10-14.
+
+[685] Rom. iv. 11.
+
+[686] Exod. xii. 48.
+
+[687] Deut. iv. 7, 8.
+
+[688] Exod. xxiii. 17.
+
+[689] Exod. xxiii. 32.
+
+[690] Josh. v. 2, 3, 9.
+
+[691] Col. ii. 11-13.
+
+[692] Rom. iv. 11.
+
+[693] Mat. xxviii. 19.
+
+[694] Acts ii. 38.
+
+[695] Gal. iii. 26-29.
+
+[696] 1 Pet. iii. 21.
+
+[697] Joel ii. 28, 29.
+
+[698] Is. xliv. 3-5.
+
+[699] Exod. xxxi. 13, 16.
+
+[700] Deut. xxvi. 18.
+
+[701] Is. lviii. 13, 14.
+
+[702] Neh. x. 29-31.
+
+[703] Ezek. xxii. 8.
+
+[704] Ezek. xx. 40, 41, 37.
+
+[705] Jer. xvii. 24-27.
+
+[706] Exod. xix. 5, 6.
+
+[707] Is. lxi. 6.
+
+[708] 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.
+
+[709] Rev. i. 5, 6.
+
+[710] Exod. xiii. 12, 16.
+
+[711] Num. xxv. 12.
+
+[712] Deut. xxxiii. 9-11.
+
+[713] Hos. iv. 6.
+
+[714] Ps. cii. 28.
+
+[715] Jer. iii. 15.
+
+[716] Mal. ii. 7.
+
+[717] Ezek. xliv. 15.
+
+[718] Mal. i. 14.
+
+[719] Heb. vii. 21.
+
+[720] Ezek. xviii. 31.
+
+[721] Deut. x. 16, 20.
+
+[722] Ezek. xliv. 7.
+
+[723] Jer. ix. 26.
+
+[724] Rom. ii. 29.
+
+[725] 2 Chron. xv. 12.
+
+[726] 1 Kings xv. 14.
+
+[727] 2 Chron. xxx. 12.
+
+[728] Jer. xxxii. 40.
+
+[729] Is. viii. 18.
+
+[730] Heb. ii. 13.
+
+[731] Luke ii. 28-32.
+
+[732] Zech. ix. 11.
+
+[733] Heb. xiii. 20, 21.
+
+[734] Rev. v. 9.
+
+[735] Gal. iii. 16.
+
+[736] Rom. viii. 32.
+
+[737] Phil. iv. 13.
+
+[738] Amos v. 4, 5.
+
+[739] Is. xi. 10, 12.
+
+[740] Ps. cv. 4, 6-8.
+
+[741] Is. xlv. 19.
+
+[742] Is. xlix. 6, 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+COVENANTING PERFORMED IN FORMER AGES WITH APPROBATION FROM ABOVE.
+
+
+That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of
+Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty
+was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to
+his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval
+thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises.
+The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending
+to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those
+exhibitions of his acceptance of them in the discharge of the duty. They
+afford peculiar illustrations, brought out by Him in a wondrous
+providence, of the important truths concerning his Covenant, which all
+his other dispensations to his people also present.
+
+First. He approved of engagements made in Personal Covenanting.
+
+The vow of Jacob at Bethel, at the distance of several years, was
+followed by a command from God to erect there the altar, which in that
+he had virtually promised to build. The vow of Hannah was acknowledged
+by the gift of a son, whom the Lord honoured to be a signal blessing to
+Israel. The vow of David,--"To find out a place for the Lord, an
+habitation for the mighty God of Jacob," received the approval,--"It was
+well that it was in thine heart," though the duty was made to devolve
+upon his son. These are examples of Covenant engagements made by
+individuals, to be performed by themselves, or by others, according to
+the will of God, and which he afforded grace to parties chosen by
+himself to fulfil.
+
+Secondly. He approved of engagements made in Social Covenanting.
+
+The Covenant made with Noah was dictated by the Lord himself. The
+patriarch and his family acceded to it. He and they, along with the
+living creatures concerning which he had received instructions, entered
+the ark according as God had commanded; and the Lord shut him in.[743]
+
+That Covenant was renewed with the patriarch by the express words of
+God; a promise kindred to that delivered to man in a state of innocence,
+but which, containing also the grant of animal food, and thereby
+affording an intimation of the exercise of feeding by faith on the flesh
+of the Redeemer, included a gracious grant which the other promise could
+not contain, was added at the renovation; and the bow in the cloud was
+declared a token that the Lord would not forget the transaction, but
+while that emblem should continue, even to all ages should fulfil the
+promise made by Him, and accepted in faith by his servants.
+
+The Covenant with Abraham was graciously proposed by the Lord himself.
+And the faith of the patriarch, called into exercise at the ratification
+of it, was encouraged by the appointment of a special sacrifice, and the
+wondrous phenomenon of the smoking furnace and the burning lamp.[744]
+
+That covenant was ratified a second time, while the Lord appointed the
+ordinance of circumcision as a sign and seal of it, to be extended to
+the descendants of the patriarch, not merely as the progenitor of the
+Israelites, but as the father of many nations. The extension of the
+privilege to Ishmael, the descendants of whom observed the rite, and to
+the other males of Abraham's household, was a pledge that all the
+Gentile nations should in due time become interested, not merely in the
+outward advantages, but also in the spiritual privileges of God's
+covenant, and was a pleasing illustration of the manner in which the
+Lord, by a special appointment, is pleased to testify even through many
+ages, to the good of many, to the pleasure which he takes in his
+servants performing duty in the strength of grace afforded by
+himself.[745] When the Covenant was about to be ratified for the third
+time, the Lord called his servant to a signal exercise of faith. The
+giving of an enlarged view of the promise followed upon the provision of
+a sacrifice, as a substitute for the once-devoted son; and united with
+the oath of God, given for confirmation, in leading to the renovation of
+the Covenant, as a sign of the Lord's approval of the vigorous exercise
+of that faith through which its conditions are accepted. And the new
+pre-intimation of a Saviour to come, that was made in the ram caught in
+the thicket, gave to all who believed in God--and still more, the
+actual offering of the Lamb of God, gives to all now who follow their
+faith in Covenanting, to use in confidence the patriarch's
+words,--"Jehovah-jireh," _the Lord will provide_.[746]
+
+The Covenant made with Israel, like the others made thereafter with the
+Church of God, was a renovation of that established with Abraham. Like
+that, it was proposed by the Lord himself, and besides, was in token of
+his enduring favour ratified by his oath.[747]
+
+The Covenant with Jacob was entered into after that the Lord, by
+anticipating and encouraging the faith of his servant, graciously
+presented before him the vision of the Ladder, as an emblem of the
+glorious Saviour bringing men to communion with God, and in the
+accomplishment of his work directing the energies of unfallen angels
+sent forth by him to minister to the heirs of salvation.[748]
+
+The Covenant of Sinai was confirmed in a manner the most encouraging,
+as well as condescending and glorious. By fire, the Lord intimated not
+merely his power to punish, but also his gracious presence. By the voice
+of speech, though the people were afraid, he afforded in kindness an
+indisputable evidence of the truth of his gracious intercourse with
+them.[749] And when it was renewed, the Lord added to the tokens which
+he had given of his regard for his people drawing near to serve him,
+while he passed by before his servant Moses, and proclaimed, "The Lord,
+the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
+goodness and truth."[750]
+
+That the Lord approved of Israel making a vow at Hormah, appeared from
+the fact that He granted to them the object of it.[751]
+
+The Covenant made on the plains of Moab was confirmed by the oath of
+God; and the encouragement of it, that the Lord would be unto Israel a
+God, afforded additional evidence that their net of laying hold upon it
+was well-pleasing to him.[752]
+
+The Covenant made at Shechem was shown to be approved of God, not merely
+by his command to Israel to enter into it, but by the strength which he
+gave to them to serve Him, and consequently to keep that covenant all
+the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived
+Joshua.[753]
+
+Of the Covenant between God and Israel, entered into through the
+instrumentality of David,[754] the Lord testified his approbation, in
+fulfilling to the house of Judah its promise of a race of kings in
+David's line, which should be consummated in Him who, being David's Son
+and David's Lord, should reign for ever.
+
+The tokens of the Lord's acceptance of Israel Covenanting with him in
+the reign of Asa were, that He, whom they had sought with their whole
+desire, was found of them, and that he gave them rest round about.[755]
+
+Israel Covenanting with God, in the reign of Nehemiah, were visited with
+special tokens of Divine favour. The Lord gave them one heart to perform
+the service, and bestowed his blessing afterwards upon them. "The hand
+of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and
+of the princes, by the word of the Lord."[756] "Then the priests the
+Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and
+their prayer came up to his holy dwelling-place, even unto heaven."[757]
+
+As to Israel under Joshua and the elders that overlived him, so to the
+people Covenanting under Josiah, the Lord showed his favour, by enabling
+them to keep covenant with him. "And all his days they departed not from
+following the Lord, the God of their fathers."[758]
+
+Though there is less explicitly said to intimate that the Covenanting of
+Israel under Ezra was approved of God, than what is recorded in
+commendation of other like exercises, yet their work was acceptable to
+Him.[759] Were there nothing else to show this, the prayerful frame of
+mind, corresponding to a former promise, in which they engaged in it,
+were sufficient.[760]
+
+The Covenant between God and his Church, in the days of Nehemiah, was
+made and followed with signal marks of Divine favour. The transaction
+had been predicted. "For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the
+sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall
+overflow with righteousness."[761] "The consumption" here spoken of, was
+the destruction of the Assyrian empire. The returning referred to, was
+the restoration of Israel from Babylon. And the overflowing with
+righteousness adverted to, would appear to have been the exercises of
+engaging in Covenanting under Ezra and under Nehemiah, and the
+consequences thereof. And manifold were the benefits that followed from
+these engagements. Copies of the law of God were increased: the people
+were accordingly much more abundantly instructed than they had been
+before; and they no more returned to idolatry.
+
+And what is said by an apostle, in reference to the Churches of
+Macedonia engaging in the exercise, we have no reason to suppose to be
+inapplicable to the other Churches in the apostolic age, that performed
+the duty,--that they did so "by the will of God."
+
+Hence, in conclusion. Though the Canon of Scripture be now closed, we
+have encouragement to make vows, the engagements of which are lawful. A
+material difference that obtains between the former and the present
+dispensation of Divine grace is, that what was vouchsafed under the
+former, was fitted to afford the principles according to which, all
+under the latter should judge of the attainments from the hand of God,
+made by them in every given exercise. Did he, in former times,
+manifestly approve the performance of the duty? he will substantially do
+so now. Did he favour his people taking hold on his covenant then? he
+will do so still.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[743] Gen. vi. 17, 18. vii. 16.
+
+[744] Gen. xv. 9-18.
+
+[745] Gen. xvii. 7-14.
+
+[746] Gen. xxii. 1-18.
+
+[747] Gen. xxvi. 3-5; and Ps. cv. 9.
+
+[748] Gen. xxviii. 11-22.
+
+[749] Exod. xix. xx.
+
+[750] Exod. xxxiv. 6; see also ver. 10.
+
+[751] Num. xxi. 2, 3.
+
+[752] Deut. xxix. 13.
+
+[753] Jos. xxiv. 25, 31.
+
+[754] 2 Sam. vii. 11-22; 1 Chron. xxviii. 8.
+
+[755] 2 Chron. xv. 15.
+
+[756] 2 Chron. xxx. 12.
+
+[757] 2 Chron. xxx. 27.
+
+[758] 2 Chron. xxxiv. 33.
+
+[759] Ezra x.
+
+[760] Jer. l. 4, 5.
+
+[761] Is. x. 22.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+COVENANTING PREDICTED IN PROPHECY.
+
+
+The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being
+approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is
+accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in
+periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the
+service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though
+corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because
+that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets,
+we should receive it as transmitted by them, in a manner peculiarly
+calculated to invite attention. A statute tells what, according to the
+authority of God, ought to be done. The revelation of God's purposes
+unfolds precisely the same things as to be done, but according to his
+sovereign arrangements made to lead to them. Prophecy declares, indeed,
+the purposes of God, but specially the carrying of them into effect in
+individual cases. In the purposes of God, each fact agreeable to his
+will is provided for. In prophecy, such of these facts as he has
+resolved to make known are presented. The reality of the pre-intimation
+of these shows their importance, and points out that preparation ought
+to be made for them. The assurance that a fact of Covenanting is
+predicted is a substantial argument for its lawfulness. The individuals,
+to perform it, may be urged by a variety of motives; yea, even by the
+promise in reference to their doing of it, without knowing at the time
+that they were the special objects of the promise. The argument from
+prophecy derives its value from two things,--that the subject of
+prophetic intimation, as provided for by the Lord himself, is
+warranted, and, that it is beyond the power of men either to fulfil it
+otherwise than he has arranged, or to prevent its accomplishment.
+Prophecy describes, with precision, facts that will take place. Men are
+brought into the circumstances to which a prophecy refers, and they may
+be ignorant of the fact. Afterwards they know it, and attest the verity
+of the prediction. The descriptions afforded in prophecy concerning the
+circumstances of the truth predicted are not given to provide these
+circumstances, for that is done according to a sovereign Divine
+arrangement; but are afforded to show, after the fulfilment, that the
+truth was indeed that which had been foretold. Prophecies, that duty
+will be done, lead men to it, not as attracted by its circumstances, but
+as directed by the Divine counsel.
+
+Prophecy, therefore, independently of its fulfilment, affords a reason
+for Covenanting. Properly authenticated, it has the force of an
+important argument. Shown to be prophecy, both by the circumstances in
+which it was uttered, and by the fulfilment, it is manifestly conducive
+to the duty. The fulfilment of prophecy is a scriptural test of its
+truth; but manifestations made of Divine approbation to the prophet,
+even before what was uttered by him was fulfilled, also attest that such
+was of God. It is the prophecy, as authenticated by one or other, or
+both of these things, that gives encouragement to perform the service.
+Did God speak by his servants in order to inform men, that his name
+should be called upon, in vowing and swearing unto him? Then, because of
+such a peculiar manifestation of his will, the duty behoves to be
+performed. If the dictation of his will as a law in reference to the
+service had been sufficient, he would not otherwise have enjoined it.
+And if his will manifested in that manner confers obligation, does not
+the revelation of it, in the condescending, though glorious language of
+prophecy, as well as otherwise, bind to duty? Shall he use any means to
+make his pleasure known, of which men, by giving obedience, will not
+testify their approbation? Shall God speak, and yet men not respond?
+
+Covenanting was predicted in prophecy in reference to Old Testament
+times. The prophecies under this head may be divided into those of the
+earlier prophets, and those of the later. The first class includes in
+it, those of Jacob and Moses, and others, who were employed to predict
+the future circumstances of Israel. Referring to the Church of God as a
+covenant society, in general they foretold that the exercise of
+Covenanting should be performed by its members. As an instance of
+explicit references made to the duty, we may advert to the blessing of
+Moses on the tribe of Levi.[762] That prophecy, though not limited to
+the periods of the former dispensations, may be considered as specially
+including in it a prospective regard to every act of Covenanting, in
+which the Church and nation of Israel as such engaged after it was
+delivered. The predictions of the later prophets in regard to
+Covenanting in the former ages, were fulfilled, on the return of the
+Jews from Babylon.[763] They were so explicit, and so soon fulfilled, as
+to afford most emphatically an exhibition of the will of God in regard
+to their object.
+
+Covenanting was predicted in prophecy in reference to New Testament
+times. Both in the first and in the later ages, the performance of the
+duty in these ages was foretold. It was intimated when it was said
+concerning the Messiah,--"Unto him shall the gathering of the people
+be."[764] Many prophecies uttered concerning the restoration of Israel,
+refer to the present dispensation; and consequently, the predicted
+exercises of Covenanting which these contain, to it also belong.[765]
+Corresponding to the prophetic intimation concerning a people who should
+be created to praise the Lord, is that of a new heavens and a new earth;
+both are to be fulfilled in gospel times, and by those who were to be
+created, engaging in the duty of taking hold on God's covenant.[766] The
+Saviour was promised for a covenant of the people, and for a light of
+the Gentiles; and also that he might establish the earth, to cause to
+inherit the desolated heritages.[767] The last of the Old Testament
+prophets, at the same time that he speaks of the covenant of the
+priesthood having been broken by the Jews, who were unbelievers,
+uttering the prediction,--"My name shall be great among the
+Gentiles,"[768] pre-intimates that all the heathen nations shall use the
+name of God in vowing and swearing unto him. Early was uttered the
+prophecy,--"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents
+of Shem."[769] An illustration of it is given in these words,--"Is he
+the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the
+Gentiles also?"[770] Its reference to Covenanting is therefore manifest.
+Many passages besides, from the Old Testament prophets, show that the
+Gentiles in their national capacities shall vow and swear to God.[771]
+And in the book of Revelation, the same is foretold.[772] Explicit
+predictions are made concerning the Egyptians vowing a vow and
+performing it, and concerning the Assyrians along with them and Israel
+being reckoned as the Lord's people, which fall to be fulfilled in the
+later times.[773] And by the voice of prophecy we are assured, that by
+Covenanting, in the last days, Israel and Judah shall be gathered and
+united as the Lord's people. By the breaking of the staff "Beauty," a
+prophet was called to signify that the Lord's covenant with Israel was
+broken; and by the cutting of the other staff, "Bands," he was directed
+to show, that the brotherhood--certainly one which had been professedly
+by covenant, between Judah and Israel should be broken.[774] But even an
+earlier prophet, by the use of the corresponding emblems,--of one stick
+for Judah and Israel his companions, and another for Ephraim and all the
+house of Israel his companions, in joining them into one stick, was
+commissioned to testify to their being joined to one another, in taking
+the Lord for their God, in the latter day.[775] Referring to the words
+of sacred psalmody,--"Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord,
+among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name;"[776] as prophetic,
+an apostle unfolds the exercise of Covenanting as incumbent till the
+latest times. Yea, as a fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the
+service, in the loftiest terms, is foretold. "Thou hast ascended on
+high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men;
+yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among
+them."[777]
+
+Hence, in conclusion. How important to attend to such prophetic
+intimations! They are the word of God. They were indeed addressed
+through men, but their origin is Divine. They are addressed to us. In
+times past God spake unto the Fathers by the prophets; he still speaks
+to us in his word. By the authority of the Lord Jesus, we are commanded
+to search the Scriptures;--the Old Testament as dictated by his Spirit,
+and the New as also from Him. While we read his word, he speaks to us
+from heaven. Let us not be slow of heart to believe all that the
+prophets have written.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[762] Deut. xxxiii. 8-10.
+
+[763] Some of these are contained in Is. x. 22; xxviii. 15-22; Jer. l.
+5.
+
+[764] Gen. xlix. 10.
+
+[765] See Jer. xxxi. 31-34, and Heb. viii. 8; Ezek. xxxiv. 25; xxxvii.
+26; as instances.
+
+[766] Ps. cii. 18-22; Is. lxv. 16, 17.
+
+[767] Is. xlii. 6; xlix. 8.
+
+[768] Mal. i. 11.
+
+[769] Gen. ix. 27.
+
+[770] Rom. iii. 29.
+
+[771] Ps. xxii. 27; Is. lii. 15; Zech. ii. 14.
+
+[772] Rev. xi. 15; xv. 4.
+
+[773] Is. xix. 18-25.
+
+[774] Zech. xi. 10, 14.
+
+[775] Ezek. xxxvii. 15-28.
+
+[776] Ps. xviii. 49.
+
+[777] Ps. lxviii. 18; see also Zech. ii. 11.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+COVENANTING RECOMMENDED BY THE PRACTICE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.
+
+
+The approved practice of the Church of God in Covenanting, is
+recommended to us by these two things,--that it displays a voluntary
+regard to his will, and that it exhibits his power accomplishing his
+purpose.
+
+The example of the people of God, while they walk in all his ordinances
+and commandments blameless, is a warranted motive to duty. "Be ye
+followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."[778] Their practice in
+the discharge of the duty of Covenanting, accordingly, is worthy of
+imitation. Were we doubtful whether or not their observation of the
+exercise were according to the will of God, we should not be encouraged
+by it; but when assured of its consistency with the Divine record, we
+are called to follow it. Their devout performances of the duty, then,
+present a reason for discharging it, strong in proportion to the force
+of every warrant which they had for engaging in it, but though in
+accordance with these, different from each of them. True, we are not to
+compare the doings of men with the command of God; but when he calls us,
+we are under obligation to observe these, when presented as an
+illustration of duty, or as a motive to perform it. On account of the
+same reasons for which the Church of God in former ages attended to
+Covenanting, we should attend to it; but we should perform it because of
+their example besides. Did they engage in it because of the
+manifestations of its obligation upon them, made in the Scriptures, and
+also on account of the approved practices of their predecessors? We
+should perform it for the same reasons, and for this cause besides, that
+they themselves engaged in it. "We desire ... that ye be not slothful,
+but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the
+promises."[779]
+
+The practice of the Church of God, warranting to engage in the duty, is
+a manifestation of Divine favour made by Him in enabling her to act to
+the fulfilment of his designs. Were his people called to duty according
+to his command? He vouchsafed the strength requisite that they should
+obey. Were they attracted to it by the anticipation of good from Him? He
+afforded the grace by which they were drawn. Through them performing the
+service, was promise or prophecy regarding it fulfilled? The glory of
+God was displayed by Him fulfilling his word. Because of the displays of
+Divine excellence made on its performance by the saints, contemplating
+their example, we are called to the duty.
+
+On these two grounds, the practice of the New Testament Church, engaging
+in Covenanting, to which here but merely a slight reference can be made,
+invites to the duty.
+
+The practice of the Church of God in the Apostolic age, in regard to
+this matter, has been considered before;[780] to those cases that were
+explicitly approved of God, it belongs.
+
+The practice of the Church of God in the three centuries immediately
+succeeding the Apostolic age recommends the duty. Creeds, Confessions,
+and Covenants, obtained in that period; summaries of Christian doctrine,
+received and adhered to, are recorded by Irenæus, Tertullian, Origen,
+and others. To oppose the manifestation of error, these would appear to
+have been made. The primitive Christians, in order to the attainment of
+Church membership, were required not merely to assent to such creeds or
+confessions, but also to confirm their acquiescence by oath.[781] The
+younger Pliny represents them as meeting on a certain day--obviously the
+Sabbath--and among other exercises, then engaging in addressing
+themselves in prayer to Christ, binding themselves by a Solemn Oath, to
+what we know to be duty. Justin Martyr represents Baptism to adults as
+given only to those of them who vowed to live according to the
+confession of their faith. And to the practice of Covenanting by oath,
+on the reception of Baptism, Tertullian and Jerome also allude. The
+service, as authenticated, continued till the days of Gregory Nazianzen.
+During the period too, covenants were subscribed; and at some stages at
+least of it, those who had become exposed to the censures of the Church,
+on being restored, were required explicitly to enter into covenant
+again. Such procedures were, in measure, more or less perfect, according
+to the statutes of the word of God, enjoining vowing to Him; and they
+have a claim to be regarded as the fulfilment of some of the prophecies
+regarding the duty of Covenanting, that refer to the last times. The
+beneficial practical consequences of them, in many cases, gave
+corroborative evidence that they were warranted.
+
+The federal transactions of the Churches of the Reformation recommend
+the duty. To what extent the practice may have been engaged in by the
+few in Europe who held the truth during the dark ages, we do not well
+know. That it was much attended to, we may rather infer, than use as an
+argument. But with the dawn of the Reformation came the practice of
+Covenanting. Step by step the Churches proceeded in opposition to
+Popery, by solemn engagements. By them the friends of truth were united
+together. By them, where they stood, successively through grace, they
+triumphed, even when they fell;--they knew not to flee. The history of
+the Church's reformation is written in her Covenants.
+
+First. The federal transactions of the Churches abroad. The Waldensian
+and Bohemian Churches--the forlorn hope of the Reformation, nobly led
+the way by Covenanting. Two Confessions of the faith of the Waldenses
+are valuable monuments. Some Waldenses who settled in Bohemia, are
+understood to have become the followers of John Huss. These frequently
+practised Covenanting. The Churches of the Waldenses and of the
+Protestants of Germany, in November, 1571, entered into a solemn
+covenant engagement, in which was made a profession of their faith, and
+a resolution to adhere to the true Christian Reformed Religion. Previous
+to this, by the famous league of Smalkald, renewed in 1536, the
+Protestant princes and people of Germany became engaged to maintain
+together the doctrine and truth of the gospel, and peace and
+tranquillity in the empire and German nation. In the Reformed Churches,
+Covenanting was common. According to Beza, on July 20, 1537, the capital
+articles of the Christian religion and discipline were SWORN by the
+Senate and people of Geneva. Berne and Lausanne also came to be included
+in the league. The Churches of Holland, and of Hungary and Transylvania,
+and others on the continent of Europe, had recourse in like manner to
+solemn vows. The tendency to enter into such engagements survived the
+wreck of the period that has elapsed since the days of the Reformation;
+and was nobly illustrated in recent times, as when a number in the
+Austrian dominions, when about to be cruelly expatriated for their
+attachment to the truth, pledged themselves to adhere to it, by a
+"Covenant of Salt." The practice extended to America. There settlers
+from Europe, at Salem, in 1629, by Covenanting, solemnly incorporated
+themselves into a Church of Christ. And afterwards the practice of
+Covenanting in the adopted land obtained.
+
+Secondly, and lastly. The Covenant engagements of the Church in Britain
+and Ireland. Scotland was honoured, early in the Reformation, to declare
+valiantly for the truth. Though a Hamilton, and a Wishart, and other
+noble confessors and martyrs, were soon sacrificed, it pleased God to
+place a safeguard around a Knox and others, that the truth might be
+diffused. And when the rulers of the nation were wholly devoted to
+Popery, in his goodness and mercy He saw meet to put it into the hearts
+of some of the nobles, and of many of the people, to offer themselves
+willingly, by Covenanting, to use means to effect its removal. The first
+covenant against Popery was ratified at Edinburgh, in December, 1557. It
+was signed by the Earl of Argyll, Glencairn, Morton, Archibald Lord
+Lorne, John Erskine of Dun, and others. The next was entered into at
+Perth, in May, 1559. The third was made at Stirling, in August of the
+same year. The fourth, at Edinburgh, in April, 1560. The Fifth, through
+the exertions of John Knox and George Hay, at Ayr, in September, 1562.
+In 1580, the National Covenant, drawn up by John Craig, and directed
+against the whole of the Romish corruptions, was entered into; next
+year, the General Assembly sanctioned the covenant, and the Church
+received it; it was renewed in 1590, and also in 1596. On the 28th of
+February, 1638, the covenant, with an addition that was virtually
+directed against Prelacy, was renewed at Greyfriar's Church, Edinburgh;
+thousands had assembled; the solemnity was accompanied with prayer and
+fasting; and with the most profound emotions, the covenant was sworn
+and subscribed. In order to carry into design its effect, in Glasgow,
+November, of the same year, sat down the Assembly--celebrated for
+overthrowing Prelacy in Scotland, and for its other acts of reformation.
+And as a manifestation of attachment to the cause of the covenant, in
+the consequent ever memorable times, there appeared on the banners of
+the Scottish people, the memorable motto, "For Christ's Crown and
+Covenant." These covenants are binding still on the people of Scotland.
+It is their duty still to declare for their object. Making efforts to
+maintain the kingly authority of Messiah, they ought to regard his
+covenant. Only those who see his covenant, see properly his crown. But
+to proceed. In consequence of negociations between the people of England
+and those of Scotland, "the Solemn League And Covenant," between the
+three kingdoms, was entered into. It was directed against Popery and
+Prelacy, and every other species of error; it engaged the nations to
+endeavour to attain to uniformity in religion; it recognised the duty of
+obeying civil rulers in the Lord; and it was sworn by men of various
+communities, but by them as all of one reformed religion. In August,
+1643, it was approved by the Scottish Convention of Estates, and by the
+General Assembly, on one day. It was sworn thereafter at St. Margaret's,
+Westminster, by both Houses of Parliament, the Assembly of Divines, and
+the Commissioners from Scotland. It was afterwards subscribed by both
+Houses of Parliament, and by the Assembly of Divines, and generally by
+persons of all ranks in the United Kingdom. It was renewed in Scotland
+in 1648, and by the Parliament in 1649. Being scriptural in its matter,
+and not yet implemented, and besides, having been acquiesced in by the
+civil power, it is to this day binding on the nations;[782] to this day
+it binds the Churches in the three kingdoms,--the Church of Scotland,
+and all those who have seceded from it as an establishment, as well as
+those Presbyterians who never were connected with that Church since the
+Revolution.[783] It is not too much to describe it, in the language of a
+most justly esteemed writer, as "a document which we may be pardoned for
+terming the noblest, in its essential nature and principles, of all that
+are recorded among the international transactions of the world."[784]
+
+The National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Covenant,
+were renewed, with various additions, at Lanark, before the devoted but
+disastrous struggle at Pentland, in 1666; at Lesmahagow, in 1669; at
+Auchensaugh, near Douglas, on July 24, 1712; and at Crawfordjohn, in
+1745. What was suited to these times in the engagements made on those
+occasions, and not yet accomplished, is binding, through the deeds of
+the parties who entered into them, on those whom these parties
+represented.
+
+It would not savour much of candour to keep out of view, that by other
+parties besides, these covenants have been renewed since the Revolution;
+though it must be declared, that of the renovations made by such we
+cannot in all things approve.
+
+Scotland, nay Britain, we may then say, was solemnly dedicated to the
+Lord. When will the Covenanted work of Reformation, which at present
+lies under the bann of many wicked acts, yea, even under the act
+confirming the Union between Scotland and England, be revived? May
+there be soon fulfilled to our people again the promise,--"Thou shalt
+be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in
+thee, and thy land shall be married."
+
+It must be admitted that the testimonies of those who opposed the Romish
+apostacy were in accordance, at least in some measure, with the mind of
+Christ; and it cannot be denied, that the many to whom we have referred,
+delivering those testimonies with all the solemnity of an oath,
+appeared, to the fulfilment of ancient prophecy concerning those who in
+the last times should testify for him, as his "Witnesses." Besides, has
+there not been fulfilled in our own land, as well as elsewhere, in those
+who engaged in Covenanting, in part such promises as this,--"He shall
+not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and
+the isles shall wait for his law.... I the Lord have called thee in
+righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give
+thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." That
+this promise may in due time be fulfilled to all who are in darkness,
+let us endeavour to imitate, in their devotedness of heart to God, those
+whose conduct we have been led here to consider, and who enjoyed so
+abundantly the benefits of that promise.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[778] 1 Cor. xi. 1.
+
+[779] Heb. vi. 11, 12.
+
+[780] Chap. xii.
+
+[781] Vitringa.
+
+[782] See "Lectures on the Principles of the Second Reformation."
+Glasgow, 1841. Lecture VII., by the Rev. Dr. W. Symington.
+
+[783] Appendix B.
+
+[784] "History of the Church of Scotland." By the Rev. W.M.
+Hetherington, A.M. Edin., 1842.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+SEASONS OF COVENANTING.
+
+
+The duty is never unsuitable. Men have frequently, improperly esteemed
+the exercise as one that should be had recourse to, only on some great
+emergency. But as it is sinful to defer religious exercises till
+affliction, presenting the prospect of death, constrain to attempt them,
+so it is wrong to imagine, that the pressure of calamity principally
+should constrain to make solemn vows. The exercise of personal
+Covenanting should be practised habitually. The patriot is a patriot
+still; and the covenanter is a covenanter still. "It is not enough that
+the heart be once given to God; when this has really been done it is a
+great attainment; but it must again and again be surrendered in renewed
+acts of self-dedication, in order to the maintenance of any thing like
+fidelity and steadfastness in his service. A daily recognition of our
+relationship to Christ, is full of comfort and encouragement, and is at
+the same time invaluable as a means of sanctification. How precious the
+privilege of being able in all difficulties and dangers, to speak of the
+great Jehovah in the language of Paul,--'God, whose I am, and whom I
+serve!'[785] How powerful the argument, in applying for deliverance from
+evil of whatever kind, employed by the Psalmist,--'_I am thine_, save
+me.'[786]"[787] And though the exercises of Social Covenanting are not
+practicable so frequently as those of that which is personal, there is
+no reason why they, any more than the other, should be reckoned as
+incumbent only on occasions of an extraordinary nature.
+
+But special seasons do give peculiar calls to the duty in all its
+variety. Times of hazard and distress, by displaying in relief, the
+vanity of all the aids that mere creatures could afford, and finding men
+looking around for comfort and support, invite, with a power peculiar to
+themselves, to look to Him who is a present help to his people in every
+time of need, and cordially, by Covenanting, to respond to his
+invitation,--"Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee,
+and thou shalt glorify me."[788] When religion is low, and error and
+vice and ungodliness prevail, the hosts of darkness are successful; but
+their clamour is unfit to drown the cry, so fitted to inspire with holy
+zeal, then urging to special devotedness to the Lord's cause,--"Who is
+on the Lord's side?"[789] In times of reviving, there are transmitted by
+every gale from heaven, the words of the Redeemer, inviting his
+Spouse--his Church, individually and socially to the holy duty of
+acknowledging Him as her Lord,--"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come
+away."[790] When the friends of truth unite for its maintenance, either
+in an incorporate or other capacity, they are called to follow the Lord,
+the "Leader." Is it said of the wicked,--"They are confederate against
+thee (or, against thy Covenant they shall covenant)"? What ought to be
+the conduct unitedly of those, who individually are interested in the
+Lord's Covenant? Are they not urged, to declare most explicitly by
+formally taking hold upon it, that they have come up to the help of the
+Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty?[791]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[785] Acts xxvii. 23.
+
+[786] Ps. cxix. 94.
+
+[787] "Enter into thy Closet." By the Rev. James M'Gill, Hightae,
+Lochmaben. Glasgow: David Bryce, 1843;--a most valuable work on the
+secret duties of religion.
+
+[788] Ps. l. 15.
+
+[789] Exod. xxxii. 26.
+
+[790] Song ii. 10.
+
+[791] Appendix C.
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+Hence the exercise of Covenanting has powerful claims. It is important.
+It is unfolded by a flood of light from the page of Divine truth. It is
+intimately connected with the manifestation of the glory of God. It is
+related to every other duty incumbent on men. It contemplates the best
+interests of society at present and to come;--it bears upon the
+maintenance of the just rights of mankind, and the glory of the Church
+in Millennial times. And it is an important means of sanctification, and
+of perseverance in grace. By means of it, each one of the glorious
+community of which Christ is the Head is called to manifest attachment
+to him; and through it to become more and more like unto him: so that
+the whole body of the faithful, each one having been taken into God's
+Covenant, and enabled to abide by it,--the Church, as the Lamb's wife,
+may be presented faultless before the presence of his glory with
+exceeding joy.
+
+It is advantageous. Preparation for it leads to accurate apprehensions
+of duty. It tends to cherish a devout solemnity of mind. It leads to the
+comforts of habitual holy communion with God. It impresses with a sense
+of increased obligation, that furnishes an ardour of mind, powerfully
+impelling to duty. It tends to unite many in affection, and sentiment,
+and zeal for truth. It presents instruction most solemnly to the young
+and rising race, led to inquire concerning it, "What mean ye by this
+service?" It is calculated to arrest for good the attention of society
+at large. And it provides benefits the most valuable and extensive, for
+generations unborn.
+
+It is necessary. It forms a part of the system of means devised by
+Jehovah for carrying forward his work; and it must be observed. His
+work, by this and other means, will be completed. Though the evils that
+have occurred in the world have been permitted, yet some are chargeable
+with blame for committing them, and others are culpable for not having
+used various means, of which Covenanting is one, in order that they
+might have been prevented. Though the Romish apostacy was permitted, yet
+who can tell how far the Church of God was culpable in not using
+extensively enough for its prevention, Covenanting--one means directly
+adapted to that purpose? And who can tell what effect the performance of
+the duty will have in leading to the good in store for the Church, even
+on earth, and to the prevention of evil which, if allowed, would arise?
+
+The duty, therefore, should be observed.[792] It is irreligion that
+disregards it. Superstition and infidelity alike trifle with an oath;
+for Satan hates and tries to discredit this institution of heaven. Who,
+by not observing the ordinance of Covenanting would practically say,
+that it ought to be abolished? Who would say that one flower of the
+field should cease to exist in the vegetable world, because that many
+others emit a fragrance whose elements are the same as those of the
+sweets which it breathes, or display tints due to the same colours that
+afford its glorious hues? And who would say that this part of the
+glorious system of the means of grace is unnecessary? Let this Ordinance
+be observed, that evil, as a corrupt thing under the atmosphere and sun
+of heaven, may perish before it; that many may enjoy the blessedness of
+the inheritance of the saints; and that God may be glorified through
+Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[792] Appendix D.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+A.
+
+
+Every species of co-operation with the appointed functionaries of an
+immoral and unscriptural civil government, may not imply the recognition
+of that power to be the ordinance of God. To co-operate with these for
+example, in the execution of justice, is not necessarily to acknowledge
+that the power is of God. If the forms of procedure be in themselves
+proper, and the laws just, the carrying of them into effect for the good
+of society and for the glory of God, is in itself right. But it is one
+thing to say that justice should be done in society, and also to aid in
+the execution of it, and it may be quite another to acknowledge that the
+civil rulers of the given society have a right to do so in virtue of
+authority from God. Justice should be done, by a civil power--agreeable
+to God's preceptive will. If no such power exist, the community are to
+blame for not originating such a power. And if justice be not done, they
+are also culpable;--because of the want of such a power justice is not
+to be undone. Were such to be allowed, the community would be chargeable
+with the crimes of both remaining without a proper civil power and
+permitting evil to be committed with impunity. To co-operate with an
+unlawful civil power in doing justice, is therefore to do less evil, yea
+more good, than would be done by refraining from co-operation.
+
+The swearing of an oath by those called to testify to truth, or to act
+in the weighing of evidence, as on a jury, in order to the execution of
+justice, does not necessarily imply a recognition of the authority that
+calls to do so, to be of God. It is the using of a lawful means of
+giving assurance regarding truth necessary to be ascertained, but does
+not essentially imply that the claims of those exercising power to the
+use of that power, are good. A lawful constituted authority, whether
+civil or ecclesiastical, has a right to claim an oath for proper
+purposes. But an oath may be sworn to others besides. It may be sworn
+for a good end, even to those whose pretensions to power and authority
+may not be well founded, but not as if they had a right to claim it,
+but merely because of the giving of it being in itself right. The oath
+may be sworn for a proper purpose before an individual who has correct
+impressions of its sacredness, even though he may be acting for an
+unwarranted civil authority. It is not easy to conceive, however, how
+one could swear an oath to an infidel, or to any other who regards not
+the oath as a solemn religious engagement. The giving of an oath before
+a judge and jury, or on a jury before a judge, under an unscriptural
+government, does not include the recognition of those as using a power
+deputed by God; but contemplates them as Christian men, though mistaken
+as to their power, yet doing what is in itself right, and which, if done
+by those possessed of authority from God, would be done in all things,
+though imperfectly, according to his will. To swear to do justice, is
+not to swear an oath of allegiance to an evil power. The one is a duty;
+the other would be sinful. It is because that no better means of doing
+justice can be employed, that oaths to do justice in the said
+circumstances should be given. For the assumption of power which does
+not belong to them, those who make it, but not those who even make oath
+before them to do what is in itself good, while they protest against
+their unlawful claims to authority, are responsible.
+
+A civil government must either be the ordinance of God or not. It cannot
+be viewed as acting, in some things, in the character of a power
+ordained of God, but in others, as not possessed of authority from him.
+A good government, like a true Christian, often does what is evil. But a
+bad government, like the wicked, even though it do what in itself is
+right, cannot be viewed as in possession of privilege from God, or as
+acting for his glory. Yet the inflicting of a just penalty, even by an
+unwarranted power, is not to be reckoned as injustice, or--if a capital
+punishment, as murder. It is the claim to power which is made, but not
+the accomplishment of the deed of retribution--which in itself is just,
+that is faulty. Take for example the execution of justice on a murderer.
+Murder is not the crime to be laid to the charge of those who, acting
+for or under the authority of a power that is not of God, on proper
+evidence put to death one who has unjustly taken away the life of a
+fellow creature. If a government not authorised by God, after due
+investigation put a murderer to death, they do what in itself is right;
+but if they do so as those who in their incorporate capacity act for
+Him, they do what is wrong. By the deed they are chargeable with the
+sin, not of murder, but of assuming to themselves a designation which
+they do not sustain. No man in society should take upon him by himself
+to execute justice for the shedding of blood, whether he live under a
+good or a bad government, except the government refuse to defend the
+lives and properties of subjects, and even as some, nay, many
+governments have been, be chargeable with oppression and bloodshed. The
+reason why none should so interfere, is, that it is likely that the
+whole community would execute justice with more propriety than an
+individual. Yea, a whole community under an improper civil power should
+not of itself execute justice, if there were an accessible power apart
+from or connected with it, in which were lodged authority from God.
+Those, however, who would in such circumstances claim that power, may
+often be looked upon with a jealous eye, as in general they would be
+found least entitled to the possession of it. Those who have most
+warrantably declaimed against evil constitutions, have been among those
+who were least given to assume to themselves a title to power;--they
+have been found to defend themselves, but not rashly to usurp authority.
+If there were but one individual who could avenge bloodshed, and were
+his mind in a proper state, he would seem to have a call addressed to
+him to do so; failing to attend to it he would err. Were a community
+under an authority not of God, to fail to execute justice, they would be
+chargeable with two sins,--that of letting the murderer go unpunished,
+and that of not, in recognising the law of God, forming a constitution
+or government gifted with power lawfully to proceed against the
+criminal. Thus were either an individual or a community to avenge
+bloodshed, a lawful power being awanting, such would not be chargeable
+with murder. Were a community to do so without acknowledging themselves
+to be possessed of authority from God, they would be chargeable with
+sin, for not endeavouring to constitute an authority having attributes
+which He would recognise as in accordance with his will. Were they to do
+so as if possessed of that authority, while destitute of it, they would
+be chargeable with the sin essentially of usurpation; and with them,
+because of this, others acting so as to support their claim, would be
+guilty.
+
+
+B.
+
+Reflecting on the descending obligations of the British Covenants on the
+people of these lands, by the current of an eventful providence we are
+conducted to the consideration of the circumstances of the "Free
+Presbyterian Church of Scotland." The events in the National Church of
+Scotland which have led to the separation from her communion, of the
+Protesting Church, and finally, the disruption itself, cannot be
+forgotten. The struggle that was maintained for the rights of the
+Christian people, for the independence of Christ's house, and the glory
+of the Redeemer as King of Zion and King of kings, is worthy of the most
+cordial approbation. With those who were employed as the willing and
+honoured instruments of emancipating the Church from the tyrannical
+restraints under which she so long groaned, and effected a dissolution
+of a connection with the State, fraught with so many evils as have been
+long felt by her, there ought to be but one feeling of Christian
+sympathy. A testimony for the truth, calmly, and effectively, and
+devotedly, has been borne by her, to her lasting honour. The Church has
+declared that the government has acted a tyrannical and wicked part by
+interfering with her privileges; and the people of Scotland have
+practically and memorably said, that it is sinful for the Church of
+Christ to be connected with an anti-christian State. The government of
+the land has been baffled. The rulers were not overborne by the voices
+of a majority in either House of Parliament; but by a calm and efficient
+resolution, we do not say, becoming the Scottish people, but worthy of
+Christian men, they have been defeated; and that would be wise policy,
+indeed, which would remove the shame of their overthrow. For the steps
+of reformation taken, for the noble sacrifice made by those who gave up
+their emoluments that they might be faithful, commendation is due; and
+that the Free Protesting Church may come to maintain, to its utmost
+extent, not merely doctrinally but practically, the testimony of Christ,
+is ardently to be desired. The accession of a great proportion of the
+youth preparing for the ministry, and of those engaged as itinerants in
+preaching the gospel, is a token for good; and the devotedness of the
+people of Scotland on the great emergency, in adhering to the
+"Protesting Church," and in yielding of their substance for it, is
+peculiarly cheering to the mind. The countenance given by those of the
+Presbyterian Church in England who were present, was encouraging and
+estimable, as it might have been expected; while the approving
+sentiments expressed by those from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland,
+in their circumstances, were truly honouring to them, and to that
+community. It was becoming others that by deputation they testified to
+their approval of the step taken at the great disruption. And, though
+what is here said is asserted on individual responsibility alone, it is
+declared, without fear of being in error, that another Community in the
+land--who consider it to be their duty to adhere to the whole of the
+Second Reformation, and to the testimonies of the martyrs who suffered
+after it, though not present by representation at the memorable
+secession, in order to signify their approbation, do rejoice at the
+step, and trust to see it followed by other procedures alike faithful.
+
+The importance of the effects that are possible to follow from the
+disruption, demands the exercise of great wisdom on the part of the
+Protesting Church. Not less than the power to originate the great
+movement that has taken place, is requisite ability to direct it aright.
+The people of Scotland, like a mighty mass, have been brought to act;
+much depends upon the plan according to which the moving body may be
+made to bear. The future interests of the land, under Providence, would
+seem to be in the hands of those who now guide the ecclesiastical
+movement. The destinies of Scotland were in the hands of a few in days
+of peril. They were not unworthy of the trust committed to them. By the
+adoption of the same principles which the martyrs practically
+illustrated, be it the honour of the Protesting Church, free from
+persecution, if the Lord will, but still faithfully, though called to
+suffering, to transmit to posterity a legacy, ennobling and beneficial
+as that which those left.
+
+It is necessary that the Church of Christ should proceed on principles
+laid down in the Divine word. When it does not do this, it acts not in
+character, but gives the enemies of the truth occasion to load it with
+reproach. The "Free Presbyterian Church" sustaining, as we conceive, the
+character of a Church of Christ, should do so in all things.
+
+It is Presbyterian, and is therefore called to base its attachment to
+that form of government, on the principle, that it is of Divine right.
+To maintain, or admit, that other forms of Church government are of
+Divine original, is to surrender a scriptural truth, to act as if facts
+in providence could modify the institutes of that society which is
+essentially spiritual, to become liable to inefficiency in the
+maintenance of the truth, and to give scope to the unworthy suggestions
+of those who would contend, that what right even the Church maintains on
+an improper ground, other communities besides could claim as well as
+she. The state has no right to claim the prerogatives of the Church, nor
+to dictate to her the form of her government, or prescribe for her in
+other matters. The State has no right to say to the Church, that,
+because she does not hold presbyterianism on proper grounds, therefore
+it might declare that her government shall be prelatic. But, by holding
+Presbytery as alone of Divine origin, she would most effectively
+discountenance such unjust claims.
+
+The Church, by a noble act, has thrown off the fetters of erastianism
+that had for so long been fastened upon her; let her act so as to be on
+her guard against every encroachment of that nature that might be
+proposed by the civil power. The struggle for the independence of the
+Church was resolutely maintained, and the yoke of those who attempted to
+diminish it, was dutifully thrown off. Let not any overture hereafter,
+ranging between complete submission to the State, and the mere use of
+the veto, on the part of the civil power, upon the appointment of a
+given minister to a congregation, though made by the State in the most
+attractive manner, be entertained. But let it be practically shown, as
+well as solemnly resolved by her, that she recognises only one
+Master--who is in heaven.
+
+During the last few years, an arduous struggle has been maintained, in
+order to secure, as far as possible, the rights of the christian people.
+Now, it is possible to put the people in possession of the unfettered
+privilege of electing their own office-bearers; but to put any other
+party in possession of that right, would be to do those injury. The
+claims of lay patrons are without foundation in the word of God. The
+claims of presbyteries, or any other parties than the members of the
+Church themselves, are alike unsupported there. In order that the Church
+may act in character, her procedure in regard to the election of pastors
+and elders, must be scriptural. It is true, that whether the Church act
+scripturally or not, no civil class are warranted to usurp her rights;
+yet, were her procedure not according to the law of Christ, she would
+act undutifully, and would give advantage to enemies to declaim against
+her, to the diminution of her influence for good. Though the Church were
+to declare for _The Call_, merely on the principle of expediency, but
+not as if according to the will of Christ, the State would have no
+proper ground for affirming, that therefore it had a right to use
+patronage--its principle of expediency; for a right of the Church can
+never be transferred to a civil power; yet the Church, by not
+legislating on scriptural grounds, could not act in such a manner as to
+deserve the recognition of her by the people as proceeding according to
+her true character.
+
+The last few years have added to the Church of Scotland a high
+proportion of godly and devoted ministers. Errors, that would have been
+winked at in previous periods by some in her Assemblies, have been
+brought to light, and the laws of Christ's house have been brought to
+bear on those who maintained them. Purity of doctrine was a jewel among
+the late reforming majority. The orthodoxy of the ministers in general
+of the separated Church is undoubted. She adheres to the Confession of
+Faith. It is requisite that she direct a testimony against unsound
+doctrine, including the errors prevalent now in Churches called
+Christian; and that whatever scheme of co-operation with other
+Christians she may embark in, may be consistent with her regard for the
+truth.
+
+The Headship of Christ over the nations is maintained by the Protesting
+Church; on that is founded the principle of the establishment of
+religion by the civil magistrate; that, was recognised in the late
+contendings with the civil powers, and especially in the second series
+of resolutions made at the Convocation of November; on that principle
+these resolutions were carried into effect at the late disruption;--it
+is desirable that, in the progress of the newly modelled community the
+principle be properly applied. The important application of that, which
+is now necessary, is the lifting up of a protest against the civil
+power, as immoral and unscriptural, and a consistent course of procedure
+in consequence. What justifies the disruption requires a dissent from
+the civil power, as a power not of God. That State with which the Church
+could not be connected, so as to enjoy her own privileges, cannot be the
+ordinance of God. If the government has been guilty of violating the
+rights and privileges of the Presbyterians of Scotland, has it not been
+acting in opposition to the will of Christ, and setting at nought his
+authority? Were the civil government possessed of less influence than it
+really has, men would likely be disposed to esteem it more agreeably to
+its true character, than they really are. Is an individual denounced for
+an act of injustice or oppression? And why should not a government? Even
+is a government, acting for the time being, worthy of being denounced
+for some things, and yet worthy of approbation, as if acting for God?
+Yea, is that constitution sound which admits of tyranny over the
+Church--injustice of a highly aggravated character, to be cordially
+supported by those who complain of its oppression? The same pretensions
+to power over her, that were put forth in acts of parliament,[793] when
+the Church was disorganised, and for acting on which the house of the
+Stuarts was driven from the British throne, have been of late made in
+the councils of the nation. Can the power that would do so be approved?
+Why should any cling to an oath of allegiance to a power that, in this
+particular, as well as in others, is anti-christian? All have reason to
+beware of the attractions of such civil powers. What is it that gives
+evil governments their influence, but their power to terrify, and their
+wealth and honours to seduce? In one case, the ministers of the
+Community to whom we now direct our thoughts, have nobly cast the latter
+aside. It becomes her to act in other matters consistently with this.
+There are those who would overthrow the institutions of the land, that
+are noble, and plant anarchy where oppression flourished. But her
+principles, yea, the principles of all who hold the truth, are the
+reverse. These would wish that good men in power should be brought to
+see what is duty. They would not refuse to obey laws that in themselves
+are right. But they should not do so from a regard to the authorities in
+the land that enjoin them. If the present system of civil government
+cannot stand of itself, why should the people of Scotland, escaped from
+the trammels of tyranny, pledge themselves to support it? They ought not
+to bring in revolution, but neither ought they to continue, by adhering
+to their oath of allegiance, to give countenance to an unlawful civil
+power. Let their determination, and that of their brethren in the other
+parts of the empire, prove itself to be of a nobler order than what will
+be abated by unfavourable circumstances. Let it be put forth in leading
+to abstain from countenancing an evil constitution, and to raise above
+the fear of consequences. Arising from Christian principle, deep hid in
+the breast, let it give an energy which opposition would only increase,
+and which death itself would not subdue, but hand over with increased
+vigour to others.
+
+The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland should recognise the
+attainments made during the Second Reformation. Whatever steps of real
+reformation have been taken of late, have been in accordance with some
+of these. It is desirable that all of them should now be adopted. Tho
+Revolution Settlement suffered not the Church to advance beyond the
+Reformation made at 1592. Now that that compact has been abandoned by
+the Church herself, let her occupy fully the ground on which the
+Reformers, between 1638 and 1649, so honourably stood. By some laws of
+the land, indeed, many of these are condemned. But these laws are
+monuments of the tyranny and oppression of the government that made
+them. The Revolution Church of Scotland never recognised, as a whole
+the brightest attainments made in the history of the Church in the
+land. During the late contest, indeed, the Act of Assembly, 1647,
+adopting the Westminster Confession, has been pleaded as the Act of the
+Church of Scotland at the Revolution, which had been made by the same
+Church before. But though that could not have been properly maintained
+without admitting that other laws of the former era, not
+ecclesiastically repealed, were also the law of the Church at the
+latter,[794] let the Church, now that she is completely unfettered, by
+ecclesiastical legislation solemnly adopt all the distinct attainments
+of the second reforming period, and thus serve herself an heir to the
+highest privileges enjoyed by the Church in our land.
+
+It is good that the Free Presbyterian Church contemplates the erection
+of a Theological Seminary for a rising ministry. May it be called into
+operation, and greatly prosper; and may her youth--kept from the
+chilling influences of error, evangelically instructed and eminently
+pious, prove the means of diffusing widely the truth, in consequence of
+a momentous reformation.
+
+And, above all, it is necessary that the Free Presbyterian Church should
+have regard to explicit solemn covenant obligations. The vows of God,
+made by the Church in this land, are upon her; these she ought to
+acknowledge, and to endeavour to renew. Though these covenants were
+condemned by the laws of the land, they are still binding. The act of
+Queen Anne was against the Revolution Settlement, and, therefore, the
+reforming party in the Church of late declared that it was
+unconstitutional. The Revolution Settlement itself was based upon the
+overthrow of the whole of the Covenanted Reformation; and no more than
+the act of Queen Anne, regarding patronage, ought the sinful parts of it
+to be regarded. Popery exists, and Prelacy, absorbing Popery, exists.
+Would that the Free Presbyterian Church, by recognising the binding
+obligation of the covenants, National, and Solemn League and Covenant,
+and by adding to the binding obligations of these, engagements suited to
+the times, were to go forth in opposition to all evil, in all the
+gracious vigour of a faithful witness for the whole truth.[795]
+
+The movement that has been lately made, contemplated in its highest
+character, appears the work of God. By a wondrous providence he has shut
+up the Church to a course of duty, and has plainly indicated the
+necessity to persevere in it. On the other hand, contemplating the human
+instrumentality called to accomplish an estimable work, and approving
+much of the agents immediately employed, we should not be forgetful of
+the corresponding efforts made in time past, even in the National
+Church. Our heart is to the memory of such as had in their view the
+objects lately contended for, and in a day when the rights of the people
+were trampled on without remorse, willingly lifted the voice in the
+Assembly against patronage, and otherwise laboured for the removal of
+its flagrant enormities. There was good principle in the National
+Church, but evil caused much of it to be unseen, though some of it
+remained manifest. Gold may be dissolved by a compound acid, and for a
+time may cease to be observed, but not beyond the power of re-appearing.
+The gold cannot be decomposed: let a test be added, and the
+indestructible ore will re-appear. By a powerful solvent the noble
+principle in the National Church became nearly all invisible, though
+some of it could not be dissolved. A test has been added, and the whole
+has been precipitated, and nearly all of it has come out.[796] The sound
+principle and piety in the Church were the gold; moderatism, including
+erastianism and patronage, was the solvent; a wondrous providence
+applied a test; and the gold of true excellence shines forth. Let it be
+united by Covenanting, into one glorious mass, and be exhibited for
+beauty, and glory to God. Let the Free Presbyterian Church, remembering
+the past, wisely look forward to the future; and, reflecting upon what
+may be the effect of its procedure on other nations of the world, now
+act so as to present an example worthy the imitation of all. And it is
+humbly presumed that the standing of the Church, in the days of her
+greatest glory and efficiency in the land, in preference to every other,
+claims her adoption. The position, ecclesiastical and civil, of the
+friends and followers of the Second Reformation, like an ancient
+fortress held by comparatively few, but venerable from its eventful
+history, remarkable amid the ruin which time has laid around it, and
+displaying a massive grandeur as it rests on its broad and solid
+foundations, which had, during periods not very remote, been
+contemplated more as an affecting memorial of the past, than as a
+strength which should be available in time to come, has of late, while
+tyranny made progress, been somewhat approached, as it stands begirt
+with its gigantic bulwarks, surmounted with the banner of the Covenant,
+manifestly high above all other means of defending the Church; and it
+faithfully promises a vantage-ground, noble from its commanding
+altitude, and unassailable within its high defences, to which all in the
+land who love the truth should come, that to whatever outward peril they
+might be brought, they might maintain their christian warfare, to their
+continued honour and final triumph.
+
+
+C.
+
+In order to suggest a good basis, whereon all in the land who hold the
+truth might unite in a capacity more or less intimate, the following
+observations are humbly presented for consideration. The friends of
+truth cannot justifiably persevere in supporting the British
+Constitution as the ordinance of God. The government, in order to its
+dignity and efficiency, proclaims itself to be worthy of cordial
+support. The claims which it puts forth may not be regarded by itself as
+of a very high order, yet it views them as indisputable; and even,
+though manifestly not an ordinance of God nor friendly to true religion,
+it seeks to strengthen its authority by availing itself of the use of a
+most sacred institution in religion--the oath. The government itself,
+though for certain ends it applies the oath, is not scriptural. And why
+should good men claim for it the character of an ordinance of God, to
+which even of itself it does not aspire? What right has an unscriptural
+civil power, any more than a corrupt ecclesiastical constitution,--what
+right has the British Constitution, any more than the Church of Rome, to
+claim for itself in things civil, the title, such as that usurps in
+things ecclesiastical, of an ordinance of God? Nay, the very fact of a
+government in gospel times supporting Popery, must cut it off from the
+title of a power delegated from above. It is simply because bad civil
+governments have great influence, that they lead men to pay them a
+deference which they would not yield to other systems charged with their
+evils. Why is an evil government at one period viewed as the ordinance
+of God, and at another as worthy of being overthrown? Does the character
+of such change by the accumulation or the long pressure of the very
+same--not new, evils? In the former case, the people who approve,
+misapprehend its true character, while they are able to endure; in the
+latter, they see it clearly, oppression having opened their eyes. Such
+were the governments of Charles II. and James VII. Though some approved
+of them as the ordinance of God, yet, at the Revolution, the nation
+declared that they were not. And consequently they should never have
+been acknowledged as such. Men acknowledge the British Constitution at
+present as a power ordained of God. If Puseyism go on till the
+Protestantism of the empire be swamped in an inundation of Popery, the
+nation will form right views of the subject. May they soon entertain
+such views, lest such an event arrive!
+
+The friends of truth under the present government should say to it in
+such a manner as not to be misunderstood,--We will obey your good laws,
+because they are good; but by oaths or otherwise we will not recognise
+your authority as of God.--We will co-operate with you in doing what is
+good; but so long as you continue to support evil, we cannot swear
+allegiance to you. Abolish all oaths of allegiance, and we will act
+along with you in every right matter.--Were all those who hold the truth
+in the united kingdom to do so, would not the request extort regard? And
+might not rulers see the propriety of yielding? Were such oaths to the
+present government abolished, then those who love the truth might enter
+parliament, and act without being responsible for the evils of the civil
+constitution and of the administration, and at the same time lead to
+essential political reformation; and the people could with a clear
+conscience return to parliament such men as might be possessed of proper
+character, and be of known attachment to the truth. Were a door opened
+in this manner for men consistently uttering their voice in the councils
+of the nation, then means should be assiduously used, on the part of the
+people and on the part of their representatives, for scripturally
+reforming the State, and for giving to true religion that external
+countenance and support which is due to it. The government would not act
+a weak part in conceding the abolition of the oath in the said cases. It
+would rather thereby attach to the support of what is good in it, men
+who would be equally at least with all others, amenable to every good
+law, but bound to duty by ties far stronger than those which human laws
+themselves could fasten. A good government should maintain the oath; but
+a government such as the British, ought not to claim it for the purpose
+of securing allegiance. That government seems at present disposed to
+concede the abolition of that oath to the Catholics of Ireland. Why
+should not the friends of truth in the empire, strive for the abolition
+of the oaths of allegiance sworn by themselves, in using which they,
+directly or indirectly, support what is evil, while Catholics are
+unwilling to swear, because, that by swearing they are in some measure
+prevented from giving scope to their own cause?
+
+Even in order to abolish these oaths, the going into parliament by
+swearing any of them, cannot be recommended. But since legislators in
+either house, having sworn oaths of allegiance--even not justifiable,
+are in possession of privileges, for the time being, of which the
+Legislature cannot deprive them, let such have put into their hands,
+memorials on the subject, by the people, and let them use their
+privilege in order to gain their object. It does not appear how any one
+can act dutifully by remaining in parliament, except in endeavouring to
+carry into effect this measure.
+
+But should Popery continue to make progress, as it has done of late, and
+receive more countenance from the civil power, the friends of truth
+would find it difficult, in any way to co-operate with the government,
+but would be urged to take higher ground, in opposition to error, or
+even tyranny, than they have in general lately taken. They may even have
+to confederate against powers that would seek to rob them of their
+christian privileges--wherewith the Lord Jesus has gifted them. Should
+they have to engage in a struggle for these, let their efforts be made
+without hesitation or wavering. Let their minds be wholly devoted. Under
+the influence of that faith which makes humble, but also enables to do
+all things in the strength of Christ, let them enter on duty. Having
+taken up their position, as if bound by the adamantine chain of
+necessity, yet free as the orbs of heaven--under the influence of
+gravity, let them, cordially engaged to one another, occupy that ground,
+there to stand or fall together. Let there be taken by them the calm and
+noble resolution, which knows not to fail; which fear cannot agitate,
+nor outward evils diminish; which peril and distress would only display
+in all its mighty strength; which, immovable as the pillars of heaven,
+stedfast in the midst of opposition, as the summit of the mountain on
+which the thunderbolts are expended in vain, would sustain undismayed
+the assault of every foe; which though pressed to the utmost would not
+desert the field; but which, though like the warrior, black and weary
+through the toil of conflict, it might be misrepresented or not
+recognised, would at some era, more or less remote, shine forth in the
+glory of victory, to be celebrated and employed for good in all time to
+come.
+
+
+D.
+
+The Reformed Presbyterian Church has for some time had in view the
+performance of the duty of Covenanting in her social capacity. There are
+the most abundant reasons why the object should be more and more
+steadily contemplated, till it be attained. We profess that Covenanting
+is a duty. We have not for a length of time engaged socially in the
+formal discharge of it. We acknowledge ourselves to be bound by the
+obligations of the Church of God in past times, especially of his Church
+in these lands; and should view ourselves, as by these obligations bound
+to the duty. An example should be set by us to others who do not
+entertain the same views of the importance of the duty that we do. The
+events of the age are arousing. Many are making efforts for the
+maintenance of the truth. The enemies of true religion are on the alert.
+Besides, within the last few years, many, some of whom, we should trust,
+love the truth, though their views of parts of it would seem to be
+inadequate, have acted as if men become engaged to a system of conduct
+only when they promise to follow it; and have virtually acted as if
+their own doings could bind them to a given course. Be it ours, by
+Covenanting to testify practically, that we feel bound to pledge
+ourselves to the service of God, not by caprice, but according to his
+law,--commanding to vow, and finding those who enter into covenant bound
+by his authority through their own deed. Let us not be undecided. There
+is duty incumbent on us which we cannot devolve on others. Let us be
+active, lest even the tide of liberalism, like a refluent wave, bring
+society back to a sea of trouble, before the glorious work of
+Covenanting which will be performed in future times will be begun, and
+we who should have used direct means to lead to it will be dishonoured.
+That some are engaged in making reformation, is no reason why we should
+not be diligent. We have our duty to perform; and in being most active
+ourselves, we would most heartily show that we approve of the faithful
+exertions of these others. Our duties are peculiar. If we make no
+progress, we encourage not the movements for good, of society around us.
+While we rejoice to think of many maintaining truth, we also ought to
+advance to duty. We would account it incumbent on us to stand
+steadfastly by the side of all the lovers of true godliness in the
+nation, in defending the interests of truth and righteousness. By doing
+the service incumbent on us at present, we would most completely take
+means to lead to union of purpose and exertion, the most effective. We
+ought not to anticipate the good that may be done by others in such a
+manner as to suppose, that little will be required at our hands.
+Whatever step of obedience we take will aid in encouraging others; but,
+wherein we may now fail to advance, when victory will be complete, we
+will, like a squadron on the field, waiting for the success or aid of a
+fellow-battalion, fail of attaining to the true honour that will be
+shared in the triumph of truth.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[793] Of the years 1661, 1662.
+
+[794] See a valuable pamphlet, entitled, "The Revolution Settlement
+considered in reference to the independence and present position of the
+Church of Scotland." Glasgow: 1840.
+
+[795] For a luminous view of what would seem to be the Church's duty at
+present, we refer to an article in the "Scottish Presbyterian" for May,
+1843, entitled, "Friendly Hints to the projected Free Presbyterian
+Church of Scotland."
+
+[796] On the subject of the duty of those who still abide by the
+Establishment, see three powerful and seasonable discourses, entitled,
+"Come out and be separate," by the Rev. Dr. Bates. Glasgow, 1843.
+
+
+
+
+ERRATA.
+
+
+Page 145, line 12, for "requires," read "require."
+
+Page 161, line 21, before "will persevere, &c.," put "that."
+
+Page 174, line 14, for "unrevealed," read "revealed."
+
+Page 198, line 17, for "even," read "view"; line 18, for "are," read
+"as."
+
+Page 205, line 11, for "share," read "shun."
+
+Page 237, line 17, for "visitors," read "writers."
+
+Page 340, line 20, for "his," read "their."
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Added footnote marker 637 after:
+ "four living creatures" of the New
+
+Added footnote marker 641 after:
+ for a light of the Gentiles."
+
+Removed unnecessary closing quotation mark after:
+ he might have the pre-eminence.
+
+Added closing quotation mark after:
+ sacrifices God is well pleased.
+
+Corrected "Jos" to "Job" in footnote 412.
+
+The Errata listed above have been corrected in the text,
+except for "requires," which does not occur in the text
+as indicated.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Ordinance of Covenanting, by John Cunningham
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