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 hellish covenants, and there are godly 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 godly 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 God 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 assembly, "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 hell 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.