The Covenants And The Covenanters: Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation
Religion
The Covenants And The Covenanters: Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation
Covenanters -- Scotland -- History -- Sources; Presbyterian Church -- Scotland -- History -- Sources
Beloved, you see where stability in covenant is to be had; even in the
presence of God. Labour, I beseech you, to walk in His presence, and to
set Him always at your right hand; behold, it shall keep you, so that
you shall not be moved; or, if you be moved, you shall not be removed;
if you stumble you shall not fall; or, if you fall, you shall not fall
away; you shall rise again. There is a double advantage in it. _First_,
It will keep your hearts in awe; he that sets God in his presence, dares
not sin in His presence: "God sees," will make the heart say, "How shall
I do this great evil, and sin against God?" _Secondly_, There is joy in
it; "In Thy presence is fulness of joy." It is true, in its proportion
of grace, as well as of glory; and joy will strengthen and stablish, as
I shewed you before, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." As long as
the child is in its father's eye, and the father in its eye, it is
secure. "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the
Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee." It will
hold as well in the evils of sin, as in the evils of punishment: well,
the Lord make you know these precious truths in an experimental manner.
I have held you too long; but the business requires it. Remember, I
beseech you, it is God that must uphold your desires and resolutions;
and therefore, 1. Be much in prayer. And, 2. Set yourselves in the
presence of God. He lives unchangeably that lives in the unchangeable
God.
In the _Sixth_, and last place, if thou wouldst make an everlasting
covenant with God, that shall never be forgotten, look up to Jesus
Christ, go to Jesus Christ. He must help, and He must strengthen, and He
must keep thee, or else thou wilt never be able to "keep thy covenant;"
hear Him, else, "without me ye can do nothing." And as Christ speaks
thus in the negative; so you may hear the apostle speaking by blessed
experience in the affirmative; "I can do all things through Jesus
Christ, Who strengtheneth me." Observe, I pray, "Without Me ye can do
nothing. Through Christ I can do all things." Nothing, all things. There
is a good deal of difference between two men; take one without Christ,
and, be his parts never so excellent, his resolutions never so strong,
his engagements never so sacred, "he can do nothing;" unless it be to
"break his covenant and vows," as Samson brake his cords like threads
scorched with the fire; and, take the other with a Christ standing by
him, and be he in himself never so weak and mean, unlearned and
ungifted, lo, as if he were clothed with omnipotency, "he can do all
things," he can subdue such corruptions, conquer such temptations,
perform such duties, and in such a manner, do such things, suffer such
things, (and in all these keep his covenant with God) as to other men,
and to himself before, were so many impossibilities; he could not
before, now He can. Nothing before, all things now. All things fit for
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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