proving this we are not here to speak of the Covenant given upon Mount Sinai of which see the Ten Commands how he threatens eminently to punish the Breakers thereof or for not receiving Christ offered in the Gospel-Covenant without Question he punisheth his People for the Breach thereof but we mean these Oaths and Covenants we enter into whether they be commanded or not yet once being entred into we must keep them or else he will punish us as is clear from these three following Instances The first Instance you have Jos 9. compared with 2 Sam 21. where it will be found clearly that the Covenant being broken by Saul many Generations after it was made he and his House and the People must be eminently punished for the Breach of it by three years Famine For the Princes and all the People of Israel are said to have sworn to the Gibeonites wherein many a black Face was seen among them now this Covenant was meerly Civil and the Oath could not be very well warranted but yet when it was made it was binding 2 d Instance to prove the Judgments on them c. Consider Jer. 34.8 c. where you read after the People had broken the covenant they had made with the Servants whom they had liberated and yet brought them into Bondage afterwards that the Lord sayeth Since you have done so I proclaim a liberty for you c. that is I shall pay you home in your own Coin I will proclaim a Liberty to you for the Sword Pestilence and Famine 3 d Instance is in that place of the Text Shall he break and shall he escape saith the Lord Though the Oath was given to an Usurper and Zedekiah being his Prisoner at the time yet it was required at his hand I shall say no more to it but consider how Covenant-breaches are reckon'd among the Deeds of the flesh Rom. 1.31 2 Tim. 3.3 without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers And also I read of the great War betwixt the Turks and Christians the Christians entering into Covenant with the Turks the Pope gives the Christians a Dispensation to break it before the day come Upon this Vladislaus the King of Hungary came forth against Amurath and when he came to the Field he did first beat the Turks then Amurath having the Covenant in his bosom took it out and lift up his eyes and said If thou crucified Christ be a God as the Christians profess thee to be then take vengeance on them for this broken Covenant and for the wrongs they have done to me And presently the Turks fell upon the Christians and gave them a fatal Stroak and gain'd the day notwithstanding the Christians had scattered them before A most remarkable Instance this I think except People be more than curious will satisfy them From all which you may see that the inviolableness of Oaths and Covenants is founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations and Scripture and History is clear for it that Covenants cannot be broken except Folk resolve to meet with the Deluge of God's Wrath. For Vse of this 1. If it be so that the Oath and Covenant of God once engaged into cannot be broken then let no Man despise the Oath and Covenant of God let Folk be endeavouring to secure themselves in this Truth according to the Word of God 2. If it be so then know this that all who venture on the Breach of it do sin against the Lord against Precept Promises Law of Nature and Nations and against Threatnings 3. Since it 's so that every one doth sin that makes void the Covenant of God then let all that are under that Sin expect that the Wrath and Vengeance of God will be upon them which is the second thing in the Text because of my Oath and Covenant which he hath despised I will recompense it upon his own head Understand now what I have been saying and what I am driving at lest it be to you as the Similitude in the preceeding Verses was to this People For I declare plainly to you That these three Kingdoms have despised the Oath and Covenant of God and therefore according to the Word of God these 3 Kingdoms are to expect his dreadful Wrath and Vengeance if he in Mercy prevent it not let no Man or Woman be ignorant of these things afterward remember I have told you that it shall be so But now I shall speak to some things which Folk may have for excusing themselves about the Solemn League and Covenant and for understanding of them consider the Parliament of Scotland England and Ireland entered into a Covenant for maintaining the Word of God and the Purity thereof and putting away Prophanity and engaged themselves against Schism Heresie Error Popery and Prelacy and there was an Oath of God taken for this End upon us and our King took it at his Coronation this Oath again is broken by our King and Parliament and is despised For which according to the Word of God Wrath will be upon the heads of these that have broken it if God do not mercifully prevent it Now there are many that have many Excuses and many Objections about this Solemn League and Covenant I shall therefore speak to some of them and I take you to record this day I intend not to preach Rebellion against King or Parliament but according to the Word of God and if it be Rebellion we must take our hazard of it Objection 1. We are not bound to a Covenant and Oath which is not Lawful c. but this is such Ergo. Prob. Minor Because it wanted the Consent of the King the Supreme Magistrate Ergo. I dare say many of you have this Objection which is no Ground for it but to strengthen your Argument look Numbers 30 compare 3d and 5th Verses the Argument runs thus The Subjects of a Land taking upon them to covenant with God they can do no more in it than a Woman in her Father's House c. but so is it with these Lands For seeing the King who is Supreme did disallow it therefore it is not binding Answer I. The Place alledged doth not speak directly to the thing for though the King be a Civil Parent he is not a Natural Parent II. This Place cannot be alledged to prove the thing for the Matter is only spoken of a Woman in her Father's House or subject to her Husband c. It is true that a Parent or Husband may disannul her Vows being made without his Consent anent these things wherein she is subject to her Parent or to her Husband but that Place doth speak nothing of annulling the Man's Vow or the Widows as vers 2. for their Vows must stand III. God makes no Exception here but this first and therefore it must stand Will any of you who has this Argument say that the King 's taking or not taking the Covenant made the Covenant Lawful or Unlawful Yet though the King was not consenting to
A SERMON PREACH'D UPON Breach of Covenant By that Reverend and Worthy Servant of JESUS CHRIST Mr. John Guthrie sometime Minister of the Gospel at Tarboltoun 1663. 2 CHRON 15.12 And they entred into a Covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul Vers 15. And all Judah rejoiced at the Oath for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire and he was found of them and the Lord gave them rest round about DEUT 29.14 15. 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 NEH 9.38 And because of all this we make a sure Covenant and write it and our Princes Levites and Priests seal unto it DEUT 29. 24 25. All nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land what meaneth the heat of this great anger Then men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their fathers which he made with them TO THE READER THE Design of Publishing this Treatise especially at this time is to evince to the World what have been the Principles of the Church of Scotland and Her Faithful and Constant Wrestlings against abjur'd Prelacy that bitter Root of Human Invention obtruded upon this Church contrary to Her Received Reformation and diametrically opposite to the Word of GOD and our Covenants both National and Solemn League The Scope and Design of this Treatise consists in these Two First In asserting and proving from Scripture the irrevocable Tye and Obligation this Land lies under to prosecute the Ends and Designs of these solemn Sworn Covenants Secondly In answering some Objections adduced for debilitating their Obligations This Treatise by the Blessing of GOD upon the Conscientious Perusal may be a Mean to discover our Ancient and Received Principles and Practices in adhering to these Covenants even to the Effusion of much Blood and also how far we are degenerated from our First Love and Wonted Zeal to and Apostacy from our Covenant-Engagements so as the Sense of our Covenant-Obligations is not only slipt out of the Memories of some but also out of the Judgments of not a few If the Reader find any thing not so well connected let it not be imputed to the Author but to the Pen of him who gathered it from the Author's Mouth EZEKIEL 17 Chap. 19 Ver. Therefore thus saith the Lord God as I live surely mine Oath that he hath despised and my Covenant that he hath broken even it will I recompense upon his own head I Conceive in the Verse that I have read there is more solid Truth delivered by the Spirit of God which cannot lye than I am able to declare when I have fallen to the Explication and Enlargement of if yet the very first words in the 11 and 12 Verses speak as much to the Truth contained in the rest of the Sermons of Ezekiel as that it is not laid before the People neither left unto them in any confused way which is not plain But the Prophet gets a Commission to show them plainly what the mind of the Lord was to them This will more clearly appear if you take notice of the former part of the Chapter wherein these things are delivered plainly to the People by a Similitude the Prophet having shewed to his Hearers the same things that he comes to speak plainly of unto them so that any Man might have thought this with himself What needs so plain Preaching and Application Will not any Man that hears the Words take them up without any Application You find the Lord in his Commission to Ezekiel after he Points out the Similitude of two Eagles taking away the Branches he tells now says he Go to the City of Jerusalem and say Do ye understand these things that God will avenge his broken Covenant against the King of Jerusalem And if they understand not these things go and make them plain to them and apply it to them spare neither King nor Prince but tell them this is my Message Thou hast broken my Covenant therefore by this Message which I send to you the Plague and the Vengeance of God shall come upon you As I live saith the Lord. And lest any of you who sometime have heard us press the Oath of the Covenant in these Lands should now a-days think it alterable and look upon it as a thing that may be dispensed with therefore we are through God's strength from Scripture to make out the indissolvable Tye of the Covenant and that we bear not upon the Air in speaking to that purpose according to the Faithfulness of the Prophet's Commission by the Lord We intend to follow this Rule as we shall be answerable to our Lord and Master and to be free of your Blood whose Souls are committed to our Charge to lay it before you and if you sin against the Lord then your Blood will be upon your own head this we intend not to speak in general but in particular and if any Man will justle himself against the Lord then he will break himself for ever And for making the words more clear consider that the King of Babylon as you read 2 Kings 24.17 did change Mattaniah's Name to Zedekiah and made him King of Jerusalem and afterward Zedekiah entered into Covenant with the King of Babylon that he should abide Tributary to him and for the Confirmation of it he puts the King Zedekiah to Swear by the Lord. But after he had sent him home to Jerusalem Zedekiah upon some supposed Advantage which he saw not at that time did break his Covenant with the King of Babylon therefore the Lord sends the Prophet to him and says Since thou hast broken Covenant with the King of Babylon and has not keeped it as I live saith the Lord thou shall not prosper Yea the Lord noticeth and owns it so much that he makes the Covenant sworn to the King of Babylon his Covenant and therefore says in that Verse As I live my Oath which he hath despised and my Covenant c. This is the History and we have it clearly set down in the Prophet's Commission which he must not dare to sit but faithfully doth deliver the same as it is in the 33. Chap. of this Prophecy Ver. 7 8. wherein the Prophet tells the Duty of the Watchmen of Israel Son of Man I have set thee a Watchman unto the House of Israel Therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me When I say unto the wicked O wicked Man thou shalt surely die if thou dost not speak to warn the Wicked from his way that wicked Man shall dye in his iniquity but his Blood will I require at thy hand that is whenever a Land or Kingdom is found guilty of such and such things for
which the Lord's Wrath uses to come upon a People if that be made known to the Prophets they are bound to Preach and declare it or else resolve that the Blood of all those that are taken away with the Stroke shall be charged on them as unfaithful Men in the House of God And it were to be desired that there were many to give warning I fear there shall not the blood of a few in Scotland be required at the hands of Ministers for not giving faithful and timeous Warning for as every Man that shall be taken away in his iniquity and for his Defection shall be made to smart for it so it shall be no Excuse to you the People that the Ministers did not tell you O but dreadful shall be the Account that Ministers must give for not telling the People In the words there is 1 st a threatning for Breach of Covenant and 2 dly There is the Thing for which he doth threaten and that 's for despising the Oath and breaking the Covenant of God 3 dly The Confirmation that 's fixed to the Threatning would it not have been thought that this was enough Thus saith the Lord I will punish thee for breaking my Covenant Now this is extraordinary that it must have this put to it twice As I live saith the Lord shall he break my Covenant and escape All this put together speaks the certainty of the Threatning ver 16 and 19. and also the greatness of the Matter and the weightiness of it and how the Lord looks upon breach of Oaths and Covenants The Doctrine from the Words is That the Oath is indissolvable the Breach whereof God recompenseth upon the heads of those that break it It 's inviolable it 's in the words not framed by my Mouth the Holy Ghost framed them in the mouth of Ezekiel the Prophet long ago As I live saith the Lord God surely mine Oath c. As applicable to our Case consider the Doctrine supposeth something that is not plainly spoken and that is That every Oath and Covenant of God is a thing that is inviolable that is may not nor can not be broken For the better understanding whereof there is something that is needful to an Oath and Covenant of the Lord. I am not to speak here in relation to the Covenant of Works between God and Man in his Integrity neither am I to speak to the Covenant of Grace either in the way of it's Dispensation on Mount Sinai or as to the fulness of it under the New Testament though all these are more properly called Covenants because they are of his own devising But we take the Covenant here in this place to be of Mens Duties in the Land and for keeping them the better we take an Oath upon us in things that are neither Morally evil or good but indifferent but a Man once engaged by Oath cannot retract though they be not commanded Duties yet once entered into they must stand for when we open our mouths to the Lord we cannot go back But I say for clearing this Consider what makes an Oath and Covenant of God 1 st It must be a thing in it self lawful there is no Man that warrantably according to the word of God may swear the thing which in it self is unlawful 2 dly It must be a thing in it self possible within the Man's power no Man is warranted to swear that which he cannot perform 3 dly When we take the Vows and Oath of God upon us we interpone the Name of the Lord to it we swear by the Lord this is the thing here that makes this Covenant the Covenant of the Lord the King of Babylon made Zedekiah King of Jerusalem swear by the Lord. And it is more the Covenant of the Lord when the King is Religious and the thing commanded of the Lord which we are bound to obey though we had never sworn it Therefore it must stand once entered into lest we make enquiry after Vows and so destroy that which is holy Now for further clearing ot the words consider 1 st That in Deut. 23.21 you may see how much the Lord counts an Oath binding When thou shalt vow a Vow unto the Lord thy God thou shall not slack to pay it for it will be sin to thee not to perform it but if thou shalt forbear to Vow it shall be no sin in thee Numb 30. The Lord gives out Laws to Moses for Vows and will have them declared v. 2. If a Man vow a Vow to the Lord or swear an Oath to bind his Soul he shall not break his word he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth The Scripture is very full so that a Man once engaged in Duty if he break the Vengeance of God shall be upon him 2 dly The Inviolableness of the Oath of God is founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations Wherefore is it that there is such an Order in Ordinances to swear by the Name of the Lord Is it not for this think you to make the Thing stand sure For the very Law of Nature teaches That if a Man swear he must swear by his God and must keep it and in like manner the Law of Nations for the Matter of Offensive and Defensive Arms and as to the Matter of Cessation and Peace Is not all this to hold out that they design to secure themselves by interponing the Name of God to it Now once allow this that Men may retract and break Covenant with God then we break the Law of Nature and Nations too and so there is not a Nation under the Sun secure because the way of continuing Peace which is by the Name of the Lord being interpon'd is broken so that neither the Law of Nature or Nations if it be broken can stand if that be granted then it may be retracted The 3d Confirmation for the Truth of this Doctrine The Lord himself in his Word hath declared a Man's tender keeping of the Covenant Vow or Oath that it is exceedingly well pleasing to him and that he has declared such a Man blessed Ps 15.1 compared with the last words of the 4th Verse Who shall dwell in thy holy hill Would not any Man think they are foolish that would not dwell in Heaven Then look through He shall dwell that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not A Body that swears any thing must keep it though it be to his hurt The 4th Thing for Confirmation of the Doctrine as to the inviolableness of the Oath of God it appears and is established as the Lord hath commanded the thing in his Word and as it is founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations and has the Promises so the Lord has appeared an eminent Revenger upon the Breakers of this Oath and Covenant that is to say when Folk hath taken a Lawful Covenant upon them and has broken it God will appear eminently in sending Plagues upon them And for