And were it not commended to the kingdom by the concurrent encouragement of the honourable Houses of Parliament, the a.s.sembly of Divines, the renowned city of London, mult.i.tudes of other persons of eminent rank and quality in this nation, and the whole body of Scotland, who have all willingly sworn and subscribed it, with rejoicing at the oath, so graciously seconded from heaven already by blasting the counsels, and breaking the power of the enemy more than ever; yet it goeth forth in its own strength, with such convincing evidence of equity, truth and righteousness, as may raise in all (not wilfully ignorant, or miserably seduced) inflamed affections to join with their brethren in this happy bond, for putting an end to the present miseries, and for saving of both king and kingdom from utter ruin, now so strongly and openly laboured by the popish faction, and such as have been bewitched and besotted by that viperous and b.l.o.o.d.y generation.
For what is there almost in this covenant, which was not for substance either expressed, or manifestly included in that solemn protestation of May 5th, 1641, wherein the whole kingdom stands engaged until this day?
The sinful neglect whereof doth (as we may justly fear) open one floodgate the more to let in all these calamities upon the kingdom, and cast upon it a necessity of renewing covenant, and of entering into this.
If it be said, the extirpation of prelacy, to wit, the whole hierarchical government (standing, as yet, by the known laws of the kingdom) is new and unwarrantable: this will appear to all impartial understandings, (tho" new) to be not only warrantable, but necessary; if they consider (to omit what some say, that this government was never formally established by any laws of this kingdom at all) that the very life and soul thereof is already taken from it by an act pa.s.sed in this present parliament, so as (like Jezebel"s carcase of which no more was left but the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands) nothing of jurisdiction remains, but what is precarious in them, and voluntary in those who submit unto them: that their whole government is at best but a human const.i.tution, and such as is found and adjudged by both houses of parliament, (in which the judgment of the whole kingdom is involved and declared) not only very prejudicial to the civil state, but a great hindrance also to the perfect reformation of religion. Yea, who knoweth it not to be too much an enemy thereunto, and destructive to the power of G.o.dliness, and pure administration of the ordinances of Christ? Which moved the well-affected, almost throughout this kingdom, long since to pet.i.tion this parliament (as hath been desired before, even in the reign of queen Elizabeth, and of king James) for a total abolition of the same. Nor is any man hereby bound to offer any violence to their persons, but only in his place and calling, to endeavour their extirpation in a lawful way.
And as for those clergymen, who pretend that they (above all others) cannot covenant to extirpate that government, because they have (as they say) taken a solemn oath to obey the bishops, _in licitis et honestis:_ they can tell, if they please, that they that have sworn obedience to the laws of the land, are not thereby prohibited from endeavouring by all lawful means the abolition of those laws, when they prove inconvenient or mischievous. And if yet there should any oath be found, into which any ministers or others have entered, not warranted by the laws of G.o.d and the land, in this case they must teach themselves and others, that such oaths call for repentance, not pertinacity in them.
If it be pleaded, That this covenant crosseth the oaths of supremacy and allegiance; there can be nothing further from truth; for, this covenant binds all and more strongly engageth them to "preserve and defend the king"s majesty"s person, and authority, in the preservation and defence of the true religion and liberties of the kingdoms."
That scruple, That this is done without the king"s consent, will soon be removed, if it be remembered, that the protestation of the fifth of May, before-mentioned, was in the same manner voted and executed by both houses, and after (by order of one house alone) sent abroad to all the kingdom, his majesty not excepting against it, or giving any stop to it, albeit he was resident in person at Whitehall.
Thus Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra x. Neh. ix.) drew all the people into a covenant without any special commission from the Persian monarchs (then their sovereigns) so to do, albeit they were not free subjects, but va.s.sals, and one of them the servant of Artaxerxes, then by conquest king of Judah also.
Nor hath this doctrine or practice been deemed seditious or unwarrantable, by the princes, that have sat upon the English throne, but justified and defended by Queen Elizabeth of blessed memory, with the expense of much treasure and n.o.ble blood, in the united provinces of the Netherlands combined not only without, but against the unjust violence of Philip, king of Spain; king James followed her steps, so far as to approve their union, and to enter into a league with them as free states; which is continued by his majesty now reigning, unto this day; who both by his expedition for relief of Rochel in France, and his strict confederacy with the prince of Orange, and the states general, notwithstanding all the importunity of Spain to the contrary, hath set to his seal that all that had been done by his royal ancestors, in maintainance of those who had so engaged and combined themselves, was just and warrantable.
And what had become of the religion, laws, and liberties of our sister nation of Scotland, had they not entered into such a solemn league and covenant at the beginning of the late troubles there? Which course however it was at first, by the popish and prelatic projectors, represented to his majesty, as an offence of the highest nature, justly deserving chastis.e.m.e.nt by the fury of a puissant army; yet when the matter came afterwards in cool blood to be debated, first by commissioners of both kingdoms, and then in open parliament here, (when all those of either house, who are now engaged at Oxford, were present in parliament, and gave their votes therein) it was found, adjudged and declared by the king in parliament, that our dear brethren of Scotland had done nothing but what became loyal and obedient subjects, and were by act of parliament publicly righted in all the churches of this kingdom, where they had been defamed.
Therefore, however some men, hoodwinked and blinded by the artifices of those Jesuitical engineers, who have long conspired to sacrifice our religion to the idolatry of Rome, our laws, liberties and persons to arbitrary slavery, and our estates to their insatiable avarice, may possibly be deterred and amused with high threats and declarations, flying up and down on the wings of the royal name and countenance, now captivated and prost.i.tuted to serve all their l.u.s.ts, to proclaim all rebels and traitors who take this covenant; yet, let no faithful English heart be afraid to join with our brethren of all the three kingdoms in this solemn league, as sometimes the men of Israel, although under another king, did with the men of Judah, at the invitation of Hezekiah.
What though those tongues set on fire by h.e.l.l do rail and threaten? That G.o.d who was pleased to clear up the innocency of Mordecai and the Jews, against all the malicious aspersions of wicked Haman to his and their sovereign, so as all his plotting produced but this effect, that (Esther ix.) "When the king"s commandments and decree drew near to be put in execution, and the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, it was turned to the contrary, and the Jews had rule over them that hated them, and laid hands on such as sought their hurt, so as no man could withstand them;" and that same G.o.d, who, but even as yesterday vouchsafed to disperse and scatter those dark clouds and fogs, which overshadowed that loyal and religious kingdom of Scotland, and to make their righteousness to shine as clear as the sun at noon-day, in the very eyes of their greatest enemies, will doubtlessly stand by all those who, with singleness of heart, and a due sense of their own sins, and a necessity of reformation, shall now enter into an everlasting covenant with the Lord, never to be forgotten, to put an end to all those unhappy and unnatural breaches between the king and such as are faithful in the land; causing their "righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations," to the terror and confusion of those men of blood, the confederate enemies of G.o.d and the king, who have long combined, and have now raked together the dregs and sc.u.m of many kingdoms, to bury all the glory, honour and liberty of this nation in the eternal grave of dishonour and destruction.
THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT.
SERMON AT LONDON.
_BY EDMOND CALAMY._[14]
"Truce-breakers (or covenant-breakers)."--2 _Tim._ iii. 3.
In the beginning of the chapter, the apostle tells us the condition that the church of G.o.d should be in, in the last days. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." In the second verse, he tells us the reason why these times should be such hard and dangerous times; "for men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous," &c. The reason is not drawn from the miseries and calamities of the last times, but from the sins and iniquities of the last times. It is sin and iniquity that make times truly perilous. Sin, and sin only, takes away G.o.d"s love and favour from a nation, and makes G.o.d turn an enemy to it. Sin causeth G.o.d to take away the purity and power of His ordinances from a nation.
Sin makes all the creatures to be armed against us, and makes our own consciences to fight against us. Sin is the cause of all the causes of perilous times. Sin is the cause of our civil wars. Sin is the cause of our divisions. Sin is the cause why men fall into such dangerous errors.
Sin brings such kinds of judgments, which no other thing can bring. Sin brings invisible, spiritual, and eternal judgments. It is sin that makes G.o.d give over a nation to a reprobate sense. Sin makes all times dangerous. Let the times be never so prosperous, yet if they be sinful times, they are times truly dangerous. And if they be not sinful, they are not dangerous, though never so miserable. It is sin that makes afflictions to be the fruits of G.o.d"s avenging wrath, part of the curse due to sin, and a beginning of h.e.l.l. It is sin, and sin only, that embitters every affliction. Let us for ever look upon sin through these scripture spectacles.
The apostle, in four verses, reckons up nineteen sins, as the causes of the miseries of the last days. I may truly call these nineteen sins, England"s looking-gla.s.s, wherein we may see what are the clouds that eclipse G.o.d"s countenance from shining upon us; the mountains that lie in the way to hinder the settlement of church-discipline: even these nineteen sins, which are as an iron-whip of nineteen strings, with which G.o.d is whipping England at this day; which are as nineteen f.a.ggots, with which G.o.d is burning and devouring England. My purpose is not to speak of all these sins; only let me propound a divine project, how to make the times happy for soul and body. And that is to strike at the root of all misery, which is sin and iniquity: to repent for and from all these nineteen sins, which are as the oil that feeds and increases the flame that is now consuming of us. For, because men are lovers of themselves, _usque ad contemptum Dei et republicae_; because men drive their own designs, not only to the neglect, but contempt of G.o.d and the commonwealth. Because men are covetous, lovers of the world, more than lovers of G.o.d. Because they are proud in head, heart, looks and apparel.
Because they are unthankful, turning the mercies of G.o.d into instruments of sin, and making darts with G.o.d"s blessings to shoot against G.o.d. Because men are unholy and heady, and make many covenants, and keep none. Because they are (as the Greek word _diaboloi_ signifieth) devils, acting the devil"s part, in accusing the brethren, and in bearing false witness one against another. Because they have a "form of G.o.dliness, denying the power thereof." Hence it is that these times are so sad and b.l.o.o.d.y. These are thy enemies, O England, that have brought thee into this desolate condition! If ever G.o.d lead us back into the wilderness, it will be because of these sins. And therefore, if ever ye would have blessed days, you must make it your great business to remove these nineteen mountains, and repent of these land-devouring and soul-destroying abominations.
At this time, I shall pick out the first and tenth sin to speak on. The first is, _Self-love;_ which is placed in the forefront, as the cause of all the rest. Self-love is not only a sin that makes the times perilous, but it is the cause of all these sins that make the times perilous; for, because men are lovers of themselves, therefore they are covetous, proud, unholy. The tenth sin is, _Truce-breakers_, and, for fear lest the time should prevent me, I shall begin with this sin first.
The tenth sin then is truce-breakers; or, as Rom. i. 31., "Covenant-breakers." The Greek word is _aspondoi_, which signifieth three things; _First_, Such as are _foederis nescii_, as Beza renders it; or, as others, _infoederabilis_; that is, such as refuse to enter into covenant. Or, _Secondly_, Such as are _foedifragi, qui pacta non servant_, as Estius hath it, or _sine fide_, as Ambrose; that is, such as break faith and covenant. Or, _Thirdly_, Such as are _implacabilis_; or, as others, _sine pace_; that is, such as are implacable, and haters of peace. According to this threefold sense of the word, I shall gather these three observations.
Doctrine 1. That to be a covenant-refuser is a sin that makes the times perilous.
Doct. 2. That to be a covenant-breaker is a sin that makes the times perilous.
Doct. 3. That to be a peace-hater, or a truce-hater, is a sin that makes the times perilous.
Doct. 4. That to be a covenant refuser is a sin that makes the times perilous; to be _foederis nescius_, or _infoederabilis_. For the understanding of this, you must know that there are two sorts of covenants, there are devilish and h.e.l.lish covenants, and there are G.o.dly and religious covenants. First, There are devilish covenants, such as Acts xxiii. 12, and Isa. xxviii. 15, such as the holy league, as it was unjustly called in France, against the Huguenots, and that of our gun-powder traitors in England. Now, to refuse to make such covenants is not to make the times perilous, but the taking of them makes the times perilous. Secondly, There are G.o.dly covenants, as Psal. cxix. 106, and as 2 Chron. xv. 14: and such as this is which you are met to take this day. For you are to swear to such things which you are bound to endeavour after, though you did not swear. Your swearing is not _solum vinculum_, but _novum vinculum_, is not the only, but only a new and another bond to tie you to the obedience of the things you swear unto; which are so excellent and so glorious, that if G.o.d gave those that take it a heart to keep it, it will make these three kingdoms the glory of the world. And as one of the reverend commissioners of Scotland said, when it was first taken in a most solemn manner at Westminster, by the parliament and the a.s.sembly, "That if the pope should have this covenant written upon a wall over against him sitting in his chair, it would be unto him like the hand-writing to Belshazzar, causing his joints to loose, and his knees to smite one against another." And I may add, that if it be faithfully and fully kept, it will make all the devils in h.e.l.l to tremble, as fearing lest their kingdom should not stand long. Now then, for a man to be an anti-covenanter, and to be such a covenant-refuser, it must needs be a sin that makes the times perilous.
And the reasons are, 1. Because you shall find in scripture, That when any nation did enter into a solemn religious covenant, G.o.d did exceedingly bless and prosper that nation after that time, as "That thou shouldst enter into covenant with the Lord thy G.o.d, that He may establish thee to-day for a people to Himself, and that He may be unto thee a G.o.d." And therefore to be a covenant-refuser, is to make our miseries perpetual. 2. Because it is the highest act of G.o.d"s love to man, to vouchsafe to engage Himself by oath and covenant to be his G.o.d; so it is the highest demonstration of man"s love to G.o.d, to bind himself by oath and covenant to be G.o.d"s. There is nothing obligeth G.o.d more to us, than to see us willing to tie and bind ourselves unto His service: and therefore, they that in this sense are anti-covenanters are sons of Belial, that refuse the yoke of the Lord, that say, "Let us break His bands asunder, and cast away His cords, from us;" such as _oderunt vincula pietatis_, which is a soul-destroying, and a land-destroying sin. 3. Because that the union of England, Scotland and Ireland, into one covenant, is the chief, if not the only preservative of them at this time. You find in our English chronicles, that England was never destroyed, but when divided within itself. Our civil divisions brought in the Romans, the Saxons, Danes and Normans; but now the anti-covenanters divide the parliament within itself, and the city within itself, and England against itself; they are as stones separated from the building, which are of no use to itself, and threaten the ruin of the building. Jesus Christ is called in Scripture, the "Corner-stone," which is a stone that unites the two ends of the building together. Jesus Christ is a stone of union: and therefore they that sow division, and study unjust separation, have little of Jesus Christ in them. When the ten tribes began to divide from the other two tribes, they presently began to war one against another, and to ruin one another: the anti-covenanter, he divides and separates and disunites.
And therefore he makes perilous times.
My chief aim is at the second doctrine,
Doctrine 2. That for a covenant-taker to be a covenant-breaker, is a sin that makes the times perilous. For the opening of this point, I must distinguish again of covenants. There are civil, and there are religious covenants; a civil covenant is a covenant between man and man; and of this the text is primarily, though not only, to be understood. Now, for a man to break promise and covenant with his brother, is a land-destroying, and a soul-destroying abomination. We read, 2 Sam.
xxi., that because Saul had broken the covenant that Joshua made with the Gibeonites, G.o.d sent a famine in David"s time, of three years"
continuance, to teach us that, if we falsify our word and oath, G.o.d will avenge covenant-breaking, though it be forty years after. Famous is that text in Jeremiah. Because the princes and the people brake the covenant which they had made with their servants, though but their servants, G.o.d tells them, "Because ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother.... Behold, I proclaim liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine: and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth." We read also, that G.o.d tells Zedekiah, because he brake the covenant he had made with the king of Babylon, that therefore, "He would recompense upon his head the oath that he had despised, and the covenant that he had broken, and would bring him to Babylon, and plead with him there for the trespa.s.s which he had trespa.s.sed against the Lord." David tells us, that it is a sin that shuts a man out of heaven. The Turkish history tells us of a covenant made between Amurath, that great Turk, and Ladislaus, king of Hungary, and how the pope absolved Ladislaus from the oath, and provoked him to renew the war: in which war the Turk, being put to the worst, and despairing of victory, pulls out a paper which he had in his bosom, wherein the league was written, and said, "O Thou G.o.d of the Christians, if Thou beest a true G.o.d, be avenged of those that have, without cause, broken the league made by calling upon Thy name." And the story says, that after he had spoken these words, he had, as it were, "a new heart, and spirit put into him and his soldiers," and that they obtained a glorious victory over Ladislaus. Thus G.o.d avenged the quarrel of man"s covenant. The like story we read of Rudolphus, duke of Sweden, who, by the pope"s instigation, waged war with Henry IV., emperor of Germany, to whom he had sworn to the contrary. But, in the fight it chanced that Rudolphus lost his right hand, and falling sick upon it, he called for it and said, "Behold this right hand with which I subscribed to the emperor, with which I have violated my oath, and therefore I am rightly punished." I will not trouble you with relating that gallant story of Regulus, that chose rather to expose himself to a cruel death, than to falsify his oath to the Carthaginians. The sum of all is, if it be such a crying abomination to break covenant between man and man; and if such persons are accounted as the off-scouring of men, not worthy to live in a Christian, no, not in a heathen commonwealth: if it be a sin that draws down vengeance from heaven; much more for a man to enter into covenant with the great Jehovah, and to break such a religious engagement: this must needs be a destroying and soul-d.a.m.ning sin. And of such religious covenants I am now to speak.
There are two covenants that G.o.d made with man, a covenant of nature, and a covenant of grace. The covenant of nature, or of works, was made with Adam, and all mankind in him. This covenant Adam broke, and G.o.d presently had a quarrel against him for breaking of it. And, to avenge the quarrel of the covenant, he was thrust out of paradise, and there was a sword also placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, to avenge covenant-breaking. And by nature we are all children of wrath, heirs of h.e.l.l, because of the breach of that covenant. And therefore we should never think of original sin, or of the sinfulness and cursedness of our natural condition, but we should remember what a grievous sin covenant-breaking is.
But, after man was fallen, G.o.d was pleased to strike a new covenant, which is usually called a covenant of grace, or of reconciliation. This was first propounded to Adam by way of promise, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent"s head." And then to Abraham by way of covenant, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed."
And then to Moses by way of testament. It is nothing else but the free and gracious tender of Jesus Christ, and all His rich purchases to all the lost and undone sons of Adam, that shall believe in Him: or as the phrase is, "That shall take hold of the covenant." Now you must know that baptism is a seal of this covenant, and that all that are baptised do, sacramentally at least, engage themselves to walk before G.o.d, and to be upright; and G.o.d likewise engages Himself to be their G.o.d. This covenant is likewise renewed when we come to the Lord"s Supper, wherein we bind ourselves, by a sacramental oath, unto thankfulness to G.o.d for Christ. Add further, that besides this general covenant of grace, whereof the sacraments are seals, there are particular and personal, and family and national covenants. Thus, Job had his covenant; and David.
And when he came to be king, he joined in covenant with his people to serve the Lord. Thus Asa, Jehoiada, Josiah, and others. Thus the people of Israel had not only a covenant in circ.u.mcision, but renewed a covenant at h.o.r.eb and Moab, and did often again and again bind themselves to G.o.d by vow and covenant. And thus the churches of Christ.
Christians, besides the vows in baptism, have many personal and national engagements unto G.o.d by covenant, which are nothing else but the renovations and particular applications of that first vow in baptism. Of this nature is that you are to renew this day.
Now give me leave to shew you what a sword-procuring and soul-undoing sin, this sin of covenant-breaking is; and then the reason of it. Famous is that text, "And I will send My sword, which shall avenge the quarrel of My covenant." The words in the Hebrew run thus, "I will avenge the avengement," which importeth this much, that G.o.d is at open war and at public defiance with those that break His covenant: He is not only angry with them, but He will be revenged of them. "The Lord hath a controversy with all covenant-breakers." "The Lord will walk contrary to them."
First, G.o.d takes His people into covenant, and then He tells them of the happy condition they should be in, if they did keep the covenant; but if they did break covenant, He tells them, "that the Lord will not spare him; but the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven, and the Lord shall separate him. And when the nation shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto the land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then shall men say. Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord G.o.d of their fathers." This was the sin that caused G.o.d to send His people Israel into captivity, and to remove the candlestick from the Asian churches. It is for this sin, that the sword is now devouring Germany, Ireland, and England. G.o.d hath sent His sword to avenge the quarrel of His covenant.
The reasons why this sin is a G.o.d-provoking sin, are, First, because that, to sin against the covenant is a greater sin than to sin against a commandment of G.o.d, or to sin against a promise, or to sin against an ordinance of G.o.d. 1. It is a greater sin than to break a commandment of G.o.d; for the more mercy there is in the thing we sin against, the greater is the sin. Now there is more mercy in a covenant than in a bare commandment. The commandment tells us our duty, but gives no power to do it. But the covenant of grace, gives power to do what it requires to be done. And therefore, if it be a h.e.l.l-procuring sin to break the least of G.o.d"s commandments, much more to be a covenant breaker. 2. It is a greater sin than to sin against a promise of G.o.d; because a covenant is a promise joined with an oath. It is a mutual stipulation between G.o.d and us: and therefore, if it be a great sin to break promise, much more to break covenant. 3. It is a greater sin than to sin against an ordinance, because the covenant is the root and ground of all the ordinances. It is by virtue of the covenant that we are made partakers of the ordinances: the word is the book of the covenant, and the sacraments are the seals of the covenant. And if it be a sin of an high nature to sin against the book of the covenant, and the seals of the covenant, much more against the covenant itself. To break covenant, is a fundamental sin; it razeth the very foundation of Christianity, because the covenant is the foundation of all the privileges, and prerogatives, and hopes of the saints of G.o.d: and therefore we read that a stranger from the covenant is one "without hope." All hope of heaven is cut off, where the covenant is willingly broken. To break covenant is an universal sin, it includes all other sins. By virtue of the covenant, we tie ourselves to the obedience of G.o.d"s commandments, we give up ourselves to the guidance of Jesus Christ, we own Him for our Lord and King; all the promises of this life, and that which is to come, are contained within the covenant. The ordinances are fruits of the covenant: and therefore they that forsake the covenant, commit many sins in one, and bring not only many but all curses upon their heads. The sum of the first argument is, "If the Lord will avenge the quarrel of his commandments," if G.o.d was avenged upon the stick-gatherer for breaking the Sabbath, much more will he be avenged upon a covenant-breaker. If G.o.d will avenge the quarrel of an ordinance; if they that reject the ordinances shall be punished, "of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy, that trample under their feet the blood of the covenant?" If G.o.d was avenged of those that abused the ark of the covenant, much more will He punish those that abuse the Angel of the covenant.
The Second reason why covenant-breaking is such a land destroying sin is, because it is a solemn and serious thing to enter into covenant with G.o.d; a matter of such great weight and importance, that it is impossible but G.o.d should be exceedingly provoked with these that slight it, and disrespect it. The vow in baptism is the first, the most general, and the solemnest that any Christian took, saith Chrysostom; wherein he doth not only promise, but engage himself by covenant in the sight of G.o.d, and His holy angels, to be the servant of Jesus Christ; and therefore G.o.d will not hold him guiltless, that breaks this vow. The solemnity and weightiness of covenant-taking consisteth in three things. 1. Because it is made with the glorious majesty of heaven and earth, who will not be trifled and baffled withal; and therefore, what Jehoshaphat said to his judges, "Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for men, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you," the like I may say to every one that enters into covenant this day; "Take heed what ye do; for it is the Lord"s covenant, and there is no iniquity with the Lord: wherefore now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; for our G.o.d is a holy G.o.d, He is a jealous G.o.d, He will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins." 2. Because the articles of the covenant are weighty, and of great importance. In the covenant of grace, G.o.d engageth Himself to give Christ, and with Him all temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings, and we engage ourselves to be His faithful servants all our days. In this covenant, we oblige ourselves to do great matters, that nearly concern the glory of G.o.d, the good of our souls, and the happiness of the three kingdoms. And in such holy and heavenly things, which so nearly concern our everlasting estate, to dally and trifle must needs incense the anger of the great Jehovah. 3. The manner used both by Jews, heathens and Christians in entering into covenant, doth clearly set out the weightiness of it, and what a horrible sin it is to break it. The custom among the Jews, will appear by divers texts of scripture. It is said, "And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and pa.s.sed between the parts thereof."
The words they used when they pa.s.sed between the parts, were "So G.o.d divide me, if I keep not covenant." Nehemiah took an oath of the priests, and shook his lap, and said, "So G.o.d shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen."
Abraham divided the heifer, and she-goat, and a ram. "And when the sun was down, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp, pa.s.sed between these pieces." This did represent G.o.d"s presence, saith Clemens Alexandrinus, and as if G.o.d should say, "Behold, this day I enter into covenant with thee, and if thou keepest covenant, I will be as a burning lamp to enlighten, and to comfort thee: but if thou breakest covenant, I will be like a smoking furnace to consume thee." Thus also Moses makes a covenant with Israel, and offers sacrifices, and takes the blood of the sacrifices and divides it, and half of it he sprinkles upon the altar, (which represents G.o.d"s part) and the other half he sprinkles upon the people, as if he should say, "As this blood is divided, so will G.o.d divide you, if ye break covenant." This was the custom among the Jews, amongst the Romans. Sometimes they make covenants by taking a stone in their hands, and saying, "If I make this covenant seriously and faithfully, then let the great Jupiter bless me; if not so, let me be cast away from the face of the G.o.ds, as I cast away this stone." This was called _jurare per Jovem lapidem_. All these things are not empty notions and metaphorical shadows, but real and substantial practices; signifying unto us, that G.o.d will and must (for it stands with His honour to do it) divide and break them in pieces that break covenant with Him. This day you are to take a covenant by the lifting up of your hands unto the most high G.o.d, which is a most emphatical ceremony, whereby we do as it were call G.o.d to be a witness and a judge of what we do, and a rewarder or revenger, according as we keep or break this covenant. If we keep it, the lifting up of our hands will be as an evening sacrifice; if we break it, the lifting up our hands will be as the lifting up of the hands of a malefactor at the bar, and will procure woe and misery, and wringing of hands at the great day of appearing.
The Third reason why G.o.d will be avenged of those that are covenant-breakers, is: Because that a covenant is the greatest obligation and the most forcible claim that can be invented to tie us to obedience and service. G.o.d may justly challenge obedience without covenanting, by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption: He hath made us, and, when lost, He hath purchased us with His blood. But being willing more abundantly to manifest His love, that we be the more fastened to Him, He hath tied Himself to us, and us to Him, by the strong bond of a covenant: as if G.o.d should say, Oh ye sons of men! I see you are rebellious and sons of Belial, and therefore, if it be possible, I will make sure. I will engage you unto Me, not only by creation, preservation and redemption, but also by the right of covenant and a.s.sociation. I will make you Mine by promise and oath. And surely he that will break these bonds is as bad as the man possessed with the devil in the gospel, whom no chains could keep fast. When we enter into covenant with G.o.d, we take the oath of supremacy, and swear unto Him, that He should be our chief lord and governor, and that we will admit of no sovereign power or jurisdiction, but that G.o.d shall be all in all. We likewise take the oath of allegiance, to be His servants and va.s.sals, and that He shall be our supreme in spirituals and temporals. Now, for a Christian that believes there is a G.o.d, to break both these oaths of allegiance and supremacy, it is cursed treason against the G.o.d of heaven, which surely G.o.d will be avenged of. Amongst the Romans, when any soldier was pressed, he took an oath to serve the captain faithfully, and not to forsake him, and he was called _miles per sacramentum_. Sometimes one took an oath for all the rest, and the others only said, the same oath that A.B. took, the same do I. And these were called _milites per conjurationem_. And when any soldier forsook his captain, he had the martial law executed upon him. Thus it is with every Christian: he is a professed soldier of Christ, he hath taken press-money, he hath sworn and taken the sacrament upon it to become the Lord"s, he is _miles per sacramentum_, and _miles per conjurationem_: and if he forsake his captain and break covenant, the great Lord of Hosts will be avenged of him, as it is written, "Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of the covenant." To break covenant is a sin of perjury, which is a sin of an high nature; and if for oaths the land mourneth, much more for breach of oaths. To break covenant is a sin of spiritual adultery; for by covenanting with G.o.d, we do as it were, "join ourselves in marriage to G.o.d," as the Hebrew word signifieth. Now, to break the marriage knot is a sin for which G.o.d may justly give a bill of divorce to a nation. To break covenant is a sin of injustice; for by our covenant we do enter, as it were, into bond to G.o.d, and engage ourselves as a creditor to his debtor; now the sin of injustice is a land-destroying sin.
The Fourth reason why G.o.d must needs be avenged on those that are covenant-breakers, is, It is an act of the highest sacrilege that can be committed. For, by virtue of the covenant, the Lord lays claim to us as His peculiar inheritance. "I sware unto thee, and entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest Mine." "I will be their G.o.d, and they shall be My people." It is a worthy observation, that in the covenant there is a double surrender, one on G.o.d"s part, and another on our part. G.o.d Almighty makes a surrender of Himself, and of his Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Behold, saith G.o.d, I am wholly thy G.o.d; all My power, and mercy, and goodness, all is thine; My Son is thine, and all His rich purchases; My Spirit is thine, and all His graces: this is G.o.d"s surrender. On our part, when we take hold of the covenant, we make a delivery of our bodies and souls into the hands of G.o.d; we choose Him to be our Lord and Governor, we resign up ourselves into His hands. Lord, we are Thine at Thy disposing: we alienate ourselves, and make a deed of gift of ourselves, and give Thee lock and key of head, heart, and affections.
This is the nature of every religious covenant, but especially of the covenant of grace. But now, for a Christian to call in, as it were, his surrender, to disclaim his resignation, to steal away himself from G.o.d, and lay claim to himself after his alienation; to fulfil his own l.u.s.ts, to walk after his own ways, to do what he lists, and not what he hath covenanted to do, and so to rob G.o.d of what is His: this is the highest degree of sacrilege, which G.o.d will never suffer to go unpunished. And surely if the stick-gatherer, that did but alienate a little of G.o.d"s time; and Ananias and Sapphira, that withheld but some part of their estate: and if Belshazzar for abusing the consecrated vessels of the temple, were so grievously punished; how much more will G.o.d punish those that alienate themselves from the service of that G.o.d to whom they have sworn to be obedient? It is observed by a learned author, of the famous commanders of the Romans, that they never prospered after they had defiled and robbed the temple of Jerusalem. First, Pompey the Great, went into the _sanctum sanctorum_, a place never before entered by any but the high-priest, and the Lord blasted him in all his proceedings, "that he that before that time wanted earth to overcome, had not at last earth enough to bury him withal." The next was Cra.s.sus, who took away 10,000 talents of gold from the temple, and afterward died, by having gold poured down his throat. The third was Ca.s.sius, who afterwards killed himself. If then G.o.d did thus avenge Himself of those that polluted His consecrated temple; much more will He not leave them unpunished, that are the living temples of the Holy Ghost, consecrated to G.o.d by covenant, and afterwards proving sacrilegious, robbing G.o.d of that worship and service, which they have sworn to give Him.
The Fifth reason why this sin makes the times perilous, is; Because covenant-breakers are reckoned amongst the number of those that have the mark of reprobation upon them. I do not say that they are all reprobates, yet I say, that the apostle makes it to be one of those sins which are committed by those that are given up "to a reprobate mind."
The words are spoken of the heathen, and are to be understood of covenants made between man and man; and then the argument will hold _a fortiori_. If it be the brand of a reprobate to break covenant with man, much more a covenant made with the great Jehovah by the lifting up of our hands to heaven.
The Last reason is, because it is a sin against such infinite mercy. It is said, "Which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them;" that is, although I had chosen them for my spouse, and married myself unto them with an everlasting covenant of mercy, and entailed heaven unto them, yet they have broken my covenant. This was a great provocation. Thus, "When thou wast in thy blood, and no eye pitied thee, to have compa.s.sion upon thee, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live: Yea, I said unto thee, Live." It is twice repeated. As if G.o.d should say, "Mark it, O Israel, when no eye regarded thee, then I said unto thee, Live." Behold, saith G.o.d, "Thy time was the time of love." Behold, and wonder at it. "And I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into covenant with thee, saith the Lord, and thou becamest Mine." And yet for all this, thou has sinned grievously against Me. "Wo, wo unto thee, saith the Lord G.o.d."
There is a fivefold mercy in the covenant, especially in the covenant of grace, that makes the sin of covenant-breaking to be so odious.
1. It is a mercy that the great G.o.d will vouchsafe to enter into covenant with dust and ashes. As David saith in another case, "Is it a light thing to be the son-in-law of a king?" So may I say, "Is it a light matter for the Lord of heaven and earth to condescend so far as to covenant with His poor creatures, and thereby to become their debtors, and to make them, as it were, His equals?" When Jonathan and David entered into a covenant of friendship, though one was a king"s son, the other a poor shepherd, yet there was a kind of equality between them.
But this must be understood warily, according to the text. "Blessed be G.o.d, who hath called us unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." He is still our Lord, though in fellowship with us. It is a covenant of infinite condescension on G.o.d"s part, whereby He enters into a league of friendship with His people.
2. The mercy is the greater, because this covenant was made after the fall of Adam. After we had broken the first covenant, that the Lord should try us the second time, is not only an act of infinite goodness of G.o.d, but of infinite mercy. There is a difference between the goodness and the mercy of G.o.d. Goodness may be shewed to those that are not in misery: but mercy supposeth misery. And this was our condition after the breach of the first covenant.
3. That G.o.d should make this covenant with man, and not with devils.
4. This sets out the mercy of the covenant, because it contains such rare and glorious benefits, and therefore it is called a covenant of life and peace. "An everlasting covenant even the sure mercies of David." It is compared to the waters of Noah, Isa. liv. 6. Famous are those two texts; Exod. xix. 5, 6; Jer. x.x.xii. 40, 41--texts that hold forth strong consolation. By virtue of the covenant, heaven is not only made possible, but certain to all believers, and certain by way of oath.
It is by virtue of the covenant that we call Him Father, and may lay claim to all the power, wisdom, goodness and mercy, that are in G.o.d. As Jehoshaphat told the king of Israel, to whom he was joined in covenant, "I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses:" so doth G.o.d say to all that are in covenant with Him, "My power is thine, My holiness is thine." By virtue of this covenant, whatsoever thou wantest, G.o.d cannot deny it thee, if it be good for thee. Say unto G.o.d, Lord, Thou hast sworn to take away my heart of stone, and to give me a heart of flesh, Thou hast sworn to write Thy law in my heart, Thou hast sworn to circ.u.mcise my heart, Thou hast sworn to give me Christ, to be my king, priest and prophet. And G.o.d cannot but be a covenant-keeper.