Here is a quote from a nifty little volume called the The Covenant of 1954. It was when the RPCNA renewed their covenant vows as a denomination before God. The sermon from which this quote came was 'Retrospectives of Covenanting' and it went through the history of the Scottish Covenants as well as the American ones belonging to the RP Church.
Covenants were introduced by God to man in Bible times. They have been used by countless thousands. In Scotland:
Covenants were introduced by God to man in Bible times. They have been used by countless thousands. In Scotland:
- The writing times proved their immediate value.
- The proving times proved their ability to inspire endurance.
- The tempting times demonstrated their most vulnerable points.
To these Covenanters of history, their church, their elders and young people, and even their unborn members were sworn away to Christ as God's appointed King. Their hearts, minds, bodies, souls belonged to Him. They cared for naught else but His Glory! It was their purpose in life... their only desire in death!
That oath was to them no ordinary agreement; it was a bond of Scriptural and moral content not to be broken without incurring the sin of perjury. They could say, "With your Bibles in your hands, declare your ecclesiastical and political position, vindicate it from the misrepresentation and aspiration, assert the obligations and true interests and honor of Jesus Christ, testify against the ecclesiastical defection and national sin, and, from the long suffering of God... call to repentance." With your Covenants in mind, bend all your energies and talents from every corner of the Kingdom to work in one finely concentrated effort for 'The Crown Rights of and Royal Prerogatives of King Jesus!"
It was the martyr Guthrie who closed his life with the words which we would do well to heed: 'The Covenants, The Covenants, shall yet be (our) reviving!"
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 'who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and it is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Dr. Roy Blackwood, Synod's Memorial Volume of the Covenant of 1954, p.72-73.
That oath was to them no ordinary agreement; it was a bond of Scriptural and moral content not to be broken without incurring the sin of perjury. They could say, "With your Bibles in your hands, declare your ecclesiastical and political position, vindicate it from the misrepresentation and aspiration, assert the obligations and true interests and honor of Jesus Christ, testify against the ecclesiastical defection and national sin, and, from the long suffering of God... call to repentance." With your Covenants in mind, bend all your energies and talents from every corner of the Kingdom to work in one finely concentrated effort for 'The Crown Rights of and Royal Prerogatives of King Jesus!"
It was the martyr Guthrie who closed his life with the words which we would do well to heed: 'The Covenants, The Covenants, shall yet be (our) reviving!"
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 'who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and it is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Dr. Roy Blackwood, Synod's Memorial Volume of the Covenant of 1954, p.72-73.
5 comments:
Do you know when the Covenant was last renewed?
The last I know of, was here in 1954.
Nathan,
I was recently asked to recommend books on personal, familial, ecclesiastical, and national covenanting. I was able to point to a few works on the first and second, and some online resources on the last, but really struggled with the third.
Anyhow, I thought you might know of a few that I don't on any of the four kinds.
G.M
I was recently asked to recommend books on personal, familial, ecclesiastical, and national covenanting. I was able to point to a few works on the first and second, and some online resources on the last, but really struggled with the third.
Anyhow, I thought you might know of a few that I don't on any of the four kinds.
G.M
I was recently asked to recommend books on personal, familial, ecclesiastical, and national covenanting. I was able to point to a few works on the first and second, and some online resources on the last, but really struggled with the third.
Anyhow, I thought you might know of a few that I don't on any of the four kinds.
G.M
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