New Year's Resolutions.... No... New Years' Covenanting

Many people make resolutions on New Years eve concerning what they want to change about their life: eat less, exercise more, save money, be nicer.... and on and on. But what lasting value, what eternal value do these have? Rarely there is any. Of course, there are exceptions. In year's past, I have written on the resolutions of Jonathon Edwards. But for the most people- these are empty promises with yourself that will not be fulfilled.

So, how about something different this year? How about 'personal covenanting' instead of resolving. Our Associate Presbyterian and Reformed Presbyterian forefathers made this a practice and found much lasting benefit for their souls. Covenanting is a much neglected duty in the Church of Christ today; and it can prove to be a beneficial spiritual discipline. Below is a personal covenant that Thomas Boston made with Jesus Christ in 1690. I hope that it can serve as something to meditate on and to consider as we enter 2010.

What would you write in your personal covenant with Christ?

I, Mr. Thomas Boston, preacher of the gospel of Christ, being by nature an apostate from God, an enemy to the great Jehovah and so an heir of hell and wrath, in myself utterly lost and undone, because of my original and actual sins, and misery thereby; and being, in some measure, made sensible of this my lost and undone state, and sensible of my need, my absolute need of a Saviour, without whom I must perish eternally; and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the eternal God, is not only able to save me, by virtue of his death and sufferings, but willing also to have me (though most vile and ugly, and one who has given him many repulses), both from my sins, and from the load of wrath due to me for them, upon condition that I believe, come to him for salvation, and cordially receive him in all his offices; consenting to the terms of the covenant.

Therefore, as I have at several opportunities before given an express and solemn consent to the terms of the covenant, and have entered into a personal covenant with Christ; so now, being called to undertake the great and weighty work of the ministry of the gospel, for which I am altogether insufficient, I do by this declare, That I stand to and own all my former engagements, whether sacramental, or any other way whatsoever; and now again do renew my covenant with God; and hereby, at this present time, do solemnly covenant and engage to be the Lord’s and make a solemn resignation and upgiving of myself, my soul, body, spiritual and temporal concerns, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, without any reservation whatsoever; and do hereby give my voluntary consent to the terms of the covenant laid down in the holy scriptures, the word of truth; and with my heart and soul I take and receive Christ in all his offices, as my prophet to teach me, resolving and engaging in his strength to follow, that is, to endeavour to follow his instructions.

I take him as my priest, to be saved by his death and merits alone; and renouncing my own righteousness as filthy rags and menstruous cloths, I am content to be clothed with his righteousness alone; and live entirely upon free grace; likewise I take him for my advocate and intercessor with the Father: and finally, I take him as my king, to reign in me, and to rule over me, renouncing all other lords, whether sin or self, and in particular my predominant idol; and in the strength of the Lord, do resolve and hereby engage, to cleave to Christ as my Sovereign Lord and King, in death and in life, in prosperity and in adversity, even for ever, and to strive and wrestle in his strength against all known sin; protesting, that whatever sin may be lying hid in my heart out of my view, I disown it, and abhor it, and shall in the Lord’s strength, endeavour the mortification of it, when the Lord shall be pleased to let me see it. And this solemn covenant I make as in the presence of the ever-living, heart-searching God, and subscribe it with my hand, in my chamber, at Dunse, about one o’clock in the afternoon, the fourteenth day of August, one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years.

T. Boston

Pre-Election Presbyterian Thoughts

“Every nation ought to recognize the Divine institution of civil government, the sovereignty of God exercised by Jesus Christ, and its duty to rule the civil affairs of men in accordance with the will of God. It should enter into covenant with Christ and serve to advance His Kingdom on earth. The negligence of civil government in any of these particulars is sinful, makes the nation liable to the wrath of God, and threatens the continued existence of the government and nation.”

Testimony, 23.4

The Importance of Covenanting

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:

• 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.

Symington Says

There is a vast difference between godly rulers and worldly rulers; much like between godly people and worldly people. Rulers are to look to the Lord Jesus Christ for the way in which they are to rule. The Second Psalm tells all rulers and kings that they are to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ lest they perish! Jesus is a just and merciful King!

What is the main differences between our King, and the rulers of this world? William Symington sums it up well in his magnum opus, Messiah the Prince:

Rectitude of intention characterizes all his (King Jesus') plans. Everything is designed for the good of his people and the glory of the Godhead. Other kings may have sinister ends to serve: even when doing what is right in itself, they may have an ultimate respect to their own personal aggrandizement, to the advancement of some favorite courtier; or, supposing they move solely by a regard to the good of their subjects, they may be seeking this at the expense of some neighboring state.

Social Covenanting in the Word of God

For my Preaching Practicum class I have been assigned Joshua 241.14-15 (and my pastor is the one who assigns the texts). While meditating on the text the issue of social covenanting came up quite a bit. Through-out Scripture we see the people of God covenanting back to him in response to his love and redemption.

Joshua 24:14-15 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye 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.

I have talked about this ordinance with a number of friends (even at the Sabbath evening discussions at my house, the issue was brought up.) One of my friends pointed me to the famous Associate Presbyterian, Fisher's Catechism, which speaks of the issue. Here is what Fisher said:

Q. 61. What is a social vow?

A. It is the joint concurrence of several individuals in the same exercise as in a personal one, openly avouching the Lord to be their God, Deut. 26:17; where Moses, speaking of all Israel, says, "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, to walk in his ways," &c.

Q. 62. When doth such a social vow commonly get the name of a NATIONAL COVENANT?

A. When the representatives of a nation, or the better part of them, concur in a covenant of duties, as ingrafted upon the covenant of grace, Jer. 50:4, 5 -- "The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, -- saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." See also Neh. 9:33, and 10:1, 30.

Q. 63. How do you prove that national covenanting is a warrantable duty under the New Testament?

A. From its being promised in the Old Testament that this shall be a duty performed under the New, Isa. 19:21 -- "The Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and -- they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and shall perform it." Besides, if it was a moral duty upon special occasions, under the Old Testament (as appears from 2 Chron 15:12, and 34:31, 32; Neh. 9:38), it must remain to be the same, upon the like occasions, still; because Christ came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil them, Matt 5:17.

Q. 64. Is our obligation to moral duties increased, by our vowing or engaging to perform them?

A. Although it is impossible that our obligation to moral duty can he increased by any deed of ours, beyond what it is already by the law of God, which is of the highest authority; yet by reason of our own voluntary and superadded engagement, this obligation from the law may make a deeper impression than before, Psalm 44:17, 18, and our sins receive a higher aggravation, if we either omit the duty engaged to, or commit the evil opposite to it, Deut. 23:21, 22.

What are your thoughts on the idea of a nation being covenanted to God? What would be an equivalent in the Dutch Reformed tradition? Is there a way that the people of God could covenant to God in a country that does not allow for an established church?

First Reformed Presbyterian Church (of Grand Rapids, MI)

Here is a photo of the newly (re)formed, First Reformed Presbyterian Church. Friday we were covenanted into the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. Below is the Covenant of Church membership that every member is to covenant to uphold. We look forward to participating in the life and work of the RPCNA.

Covenant of Communicant Membership

1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life?
2. Do you believe in the one living and true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as revealed in the Scriptures?
3. Do you repent of your sin; confess your guilt and helplessness as a sinner against God; profess Jesus Christ, Son of God, as your Saviour and Lord; and dedicate yourself to His service: Do you promise that you will endeavor to forsake all sin, and to conform your life to His teaching and example?
4. Do you promise to submit in the Lord to the teaching and government of this church as being based upon the Scriptures and described in substance in the Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America? Do you recognize your responsibility to work with others in the church and do you promise to support and encourage them in their service to the Lord? In case you should need correction in doctrine or life, do you promise to respect the authority and discipline of the church?
5. To the end that you may grow in the Christian life, do you promise that you will diligently read the Bible, engage in private prayer, keep the Lord’s Day, regularly attend the worship services, observe the appointed sacraments, and give to the Lord’s work as He shall prosper you?
6. Do you purpose to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in all the relationships of life, faithfully to perform your whole duty as a true servant of Jesus Christ, and seek to win others to Him?
7. Do you make this profession of faith and purpose in the presence of God, in humble reliance upon His grace, as you desire to give your account with joy at the Last Great Day?