An abandoning of the Scottish Covenant by Matthew the Lord Bishop of Ely. Wren, Matthew, 1585-1667. 1662 Approx. 79 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 30 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A67146 Wing W3674 ESTC R11962 12930950 ocm 12930950 95660 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A67146) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 95660) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 995:14) An abandoning of the Scottish Covenant by Matthew the Lord Bishop of Ely. Wren, Matthew, 1585-1667. [2], LIV p. Printed by D. Maxwell for Timothy Garthwait ..., London : 1662. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. A plea against the Act of Uniformity. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Solemn League and Covenant (1643) Church and state -- England -- Early works to 1800. 2004-10 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2004-10 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-11 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2004-11 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ABANDONING OF THE Scotish Covenant BY MATTHEW the Lord Bishop of ELY . LONDON , Printed by D. Maxwell for Timothy Garthwait at the Kings Head in S. Pauls Church-yard , 1662. A BRIEF THEOLOGICAL TREATISE , Touching that UNLAWFUL SCOTISH COVENANT , Which was In the late ungracious times ( with fraud enough , and force , ) obtruded upon the PEOPLE of ENGLAND . WRITTEN FIRST , Upon Sundry private Occasions , in Prison , BY MATTHEW the Lord Bishop of ELY , After the manner of a Sermon , upon these Words , PSALM 44. 18. Nor behave our selves frowardly in Thy Covenant . BUT Now thought fit to be published by Him , for the present use of his DIOCESE : The readilyer to prepare all therein , ( Divines , and others , ) for that due Abrenunciation of the said COVENANT , WHICH They are ( out of hand ) to make , by vertue of the ACT for UNIFORMITY . Ju●● . 5. 31. Sic pereant Inimici Tui , Domine ; Qui autem diligunt Te , sint sicut Sol in ortu suo . PSALM . 44. 18 Nor behave our selves frowardly in thy Covenant . THe words are the last part of that verse : The whole verse is , And though all this be come upon us , yet do we not forget Thee , nor behave our selves frowardly in Thy Covenant . Of this therefore now we are to treat . But no ; that we may be more then sure , if more may be , Pray let 's look on it once again . Yet do we not forget Thee , nor behave our selves frowardly in thy Covenant ; So goes our Old Translation , That 's sure . But then , Yet have we not forgotten Thee , neither have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant , our new Translation goes so ; And here is some difference in words But howsoever these differing couples , Have not and Do not , Deal and Behave our selves , Frowardly and Fasly ; in effect they come both to one , and so all is the same : And t is no other , I assure you , in the Latine and the Greek , and the Hebrew . So that by the grace of God we are cock sure of the Text it self , every way . And t is well we are , That we have a sufficient warrant by that ; Otherwise perhaps we might be to seek , How to bring both ends together ▪ What ? As the times long have gone , to be in a Covenant , and yet not to behave our selves perversly ? To have any Engagement upon us , and yet not to deal falsly ? Out alas , 't must be the clean contrary , As frowardly then , as you will : Be it never so perversly , nay , nothing but falsly : And all the better , because of the Covenant . Haec est Lex Adami ! Is it not ? God knows , 't is not to be denied ; This hath been the manner of men lately , whatsoever is to come of it now . Well , If it must be so , So be it : yet 't is but hard luck though , to be brought now to an after reckoning ! But who can help that ? The tother might have been helped , when time was . But Spiritus spirat , ubi , & quando vult ; And seeing Gods Spirit hath set it down so , All we cannot balk it , i th' end . On we must go therefore , and hear , what the holy Spirit saith . And the summe of it , if I apprehend it right , will consist of three particulars , One , is presupposed ; Another , is now professed ; A third , is after aymed at . That in a Covenant they were , That 's it they take for granted , and that 's the first . Next , That in that Covenant their Demeanour ever was without Coven or Collusion ; neither Falshood , nor Perverseness in the carriage of it ; of thus much they now make a solemn Profession ; And that 's the second . Lastly , That God in his good Time will rescue and deliver them , that 's to be inferred here , and 't is exprest in the close of the Psalm ; And that 's the third . Now in the foremost of these will come to be considered the Persons ; First , who they are that pretend to this Covenant , Nos , We. And then with whom this Covenant is , In Tuo , In Thy Covenant . And that 's as much as we shall need . For the knowing of these Two will make the Covenant it self known . So we shall not be to seek in that neither . The next part will be the harder of the Two ; But yet in that we shall have Two chief points to guid us . The first , Matter of Law , what it is to be perverse , to be false and froward in such a Case : And therein , no less then the Law it self , yea no other then the Lawgiver , God himself , will be for our Rule . So we need not fear the frauds of a bold pleader , to make a nose of wax of it : Nor the flaunts of a Rude Hackster , to hew out his own pleasure in it . No : Annuntiabunt caeli justitiam ejus ; Quoniam Deus Judex ipse , Psal. 50. 6. There 's our security , That Ipse , T is God himself must be the Judg in it . The tother point will be the Matter of Fact ; whither guilty they , or not guilty of such Perversness . And the Tryal therein we all know how it lies : By God and the Country . An excellent way surely ! though not for some mens turns . Tryal by the Country , in this ? How ? Upon that Evidence , that all the Vicenage will bring in , Nay , that all the world can give of it . I warrant you , the Covenant of God shall be no preface to the first Psalm , shall not be at the pleasure of a Councel of the ungodly , ( They have learn'd now to call it A Councel of War , ) Nor of the common Way of Sinners , ( in a paltry pack't Committee : ) Nor of the seat of the scornfull ( their High Court of Injustice : ) Else , you might be sure , what would become of it : Any of their own Fellows should ne're be a Thief , But who they would , should be a Grand Malignant , and hurried away to the Block : And where these rule the rost , it is necessary indeed it should be so , 'T would not be perverse enough , else : But you see , It will be otherwise . The second part of the Tryal is , By God ; And that , At both his own Barrs : For the present , first , At that of the Conscience , That 's here , The Common Pleas ; In which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Heb. 4. 13. All is barefaced , yea chined down the back , an you will ; that is , so layed open , so displayed , that sure we are , there can be no Jugling there . And there shall be another hereafter , The great Assizes , At the Kings High Bench , Christ's own Tribunal : At which all shall appear ; All Persons : 2 Cor. 5. 10. and all Things , For all Books and Records shall be opened : Apoc. 10. 12. And what can be more ? But that 's to come . In the mean while , The Hope and Assurance is , that God will at last rouze up himself . [ Up Lord , why sleepest Thou ? ver . 23. ] ( Their foes indeed made no other Account , but that they had lulled him fast enough : ) And , that remembring well , what they yet suffer , Why forgettest thou our misery ? ver . 24. He will set up his Mercy again , and help and deliver them , ver . 26. And that 's in brief the aim of all this Profession and Supplication . So you have now the Contents of the Text. And now of these , That I may be able to speak and you to hear , to the Discharge of our Duties , and to the Instruction of our Souls , and all to the Glory of Almighty God , I am to beseech and require you all , to joyn with me in Humble prayer to Him , to the Glorious and Blessed Trinity , God the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , for the Assistance of the Holy Spirit unto us , and for the gift of all Divine Graces upon us . And that not upon us alone , but upon his Holy Catholick Church , &c. We have not behaved our selves frowardly in thy Covenant . THe Persons are now the first Branch of our Discourse , We and Thee , say they , We have not , and Not in Thy Covenant . In the Name of God then , Who are these ? who are They that speak this ? And who is He to whom they speak it . We. FOr the Speakers , whosoever they prove to be , this you shall find of them , They are the same all the Psalm through . They very first word is , We have heard , vers . 1. And so it goes on , We overthrow our Enemies , vers . 6. and , Thou savest Us , vers . 8. and , We make our boast , vers 9. And there ends the first part of the Psalm : And that 's all Eucharistical , an oblation of thanks and praise , for all Blessings , Old and New. Then begins the second part of the Psalm ; and that 's a Solemn Lamentation , Humbling themselves lowly under the rod. And still it holds on in the same Persons , Thou makest Us to be a by-word , ver . 15. and , Yet We do not forget Thee , ver . 18. and , Thou hast covered Us with the shaow of Death , ver . 20. and , We are counted as sheep to be slain , ver . 22. And there comes in the last part of the Psalm , A holy Letany or Supplication , that all of them make for favour and mercy , Be not absent from Us for ever , ver . 23. and Why forgettest Thou Our misery ? ver . 24. and Our soul is brought low , ver . 25. and Arise and help Us , ver . 26. But all the way you see , singing their Praises , or making their Submission , or sending up their Petitions , still it is , We , and Us , and Our , They are all the same still . Very well then . But yet , How shall we find it , Who they are ? Surely the Psalm it self , though they be no where named there , yet has enough in it , unless I be deceived , to tell us the name of them : For will you be pleased but to mark it , that howe're the Persons be still the same , yet now and then the Number is changed for a touch or two , and then they fall in again , as before : T is , Thou art My King O God , ver . 5. Not Our King , but My King , as if it were of One in the Singular . And t is , I will not trust in My Bow , it is not My Sword that shall save Me , ver . 7. These are in the Thanksgiving part . And so 't is again in the Humiliation part ; We , and We , and Our , and Us a great while , and then on a sudden , My confusion is daily before Me , and the shame of My Face hath covered Me , ver . 16. Perceive you nothing then ? Oh , t is plain by this , that the Church of God is the Speaker in all this Psalm , and so it comes to be We and I ; First We in the name of all particular Persons , as so many Saints and Servants of God , and yet I , in the name of the whole Corporation , the Holy Church : As One and All ; one Catholick Body , by the band of the Holy Spirit comprehending them all . And wondrous wisely dealt they in it . They knew , they should be the welcomer to God for this : In such a multitude , and yet in such an Unity , Ecce quam bonum ! Psal. 133. to be sure God would never fail them : No , says David , For there the Lord had promised his Blessing , ver 4. But what talk we of promise ? Though that be enough for us , yet God counts it too little for Him ; the word therefore indeed is , Ibi praecepit Dominus ; God hath commanded his Blessings , all the Blessings of Life and Goodness , to attend i th' end upon such sacred Assemblies . This for the Speakers . Thy Covenant . THere 's no stop at all then to be made neither about the t'other Person , In pacto Tuo , who it is , that is spoken to ; For the whole address ( we see ) is unto God ; He is named at the very first ; We have heard with our Ears O God , ver . 1. and afterward He is spoken to , as God , ver 5. and , as our God , ver . 21. and , as Lord , ver . 23. And had He not been named at all , yet it could be no other . For , to whom the Church makes her Prayers ; to whom she sends up praises ; to whom she ascribes the guidance of the world ; under whose Hand she humbles her self ; upon whose mercy she relies for help and deliverance ; It can be none but God , God all in all . So now 't is the Church of God that sayes this ; And 't is God to whom she saith it ; And t is the Covenant of God of which she saith it , Neither have we behaved our selves frowardly in Thy Covenant . If there be any thing then to be stood upon here , it must be but to find , which of Gods Covenants they mean : For God , we shall find , had more Covenants then one ; In several Respects , several Covenants . Pactum Providentiae . IN respect of his Providence and the Government of the whole world : This very natural course of Day and Night , God himself calls it His Covenant of the day , and His Covenant of the night , Jerem. 33. 20 We may remember also he calls it His Covenant , the saving of Noah in the Ark , Gen. 6. 18. and That the Earth should never be destroyed with a Floud any more , Gen. 9. 9. From these Generals , come we down to these in the Text , To the seed of Abraham ; And very that , we shall find , is the Covenant of God : First , That Abraham should have such a seed ; Five several times God terms it His Covenant , Gen. 17. 2 , 4. His everlasting Covenant , ver . 7. 19 , 21. Secondly , That this seed should inherit the Land of Canaan , that 's His Covenant too , Gen. 15. 18. And not to stay there , These are the Covenants which He renewed with Isaac , Lev. 26. 45. and appointed the same to Jacob for a Law , and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant , Psal. 105. 10. But now , if we weigh it well , none of all these could be the Covenant of our Text ; for they were not liable to the Lies and distortions of Perverse men : 'T was not in them , in no mans power , to run counter therein , were they never so froward ; no body could set themselves against those Covenants . Leaving therefore His Covenants of this sort , which concerned God's Power alone , and His free conveyance of secular Blessings upon Men ; we must look at that sort of these Covenants , that concerned God's Worship also , and so had a respect to the Duties , which God required His Church should perform to Him. It was possible indeed for Men to be men , and to be perverse enough in these ; Of these therefore they must be understood to speak , when they profess on this Fashion , That They have not dealt perversly in His Covenant . Now I might easily here enlarge again about the Particulars that were of this kind . For Covenants he had bound them to , before Moses received his Law ; To the Covenant of Circumcision , Gen. 17. 10. and the not observing of it was the breach of Gods Covenant , ver . 14. The Sabbath also they had before they came at Horeb , Exod. 16. 29. and it alone by it self was a perpetual Covenant to the Children of Israel , Exod. 31. 16. Pactum Religionis . BUt then at Sinai , when the Law came , that took in all , Sabbath , and Circumcision , and all other duties ; And by this means that , above all , ( especially as comprehending the Ten Commandments , which by themselves have the Title of His Covenant , Exod. 34. 28. ) carried away the Name of the Covenant of God. Therefore the book of it was called the Book of the Covenant , Exod. 24. 7. and the very bloud that Moses sprinkled the Book with , call'd the Blood of the Covenant , ver . 8. And their walking contrary to it was made the Quarrel of avenging Gods Covenant , Lev. 26. 25. What shall we need more ? I should but trouble your memories , and tire you out , if I should draw you here to the several parcels of Moses Law ? To shew you , that the Shewbread it self bare that stile of an everlasting Covenant , Lev 24. 8. and the very Salt of their Sacrifices termed the Salt of the Covenant of their God , Lev. 2. 13. So was the Priests portion , A Covenant of Salt for ever before the Lord , Numb . 18. 19. Beside the Additional granted to Phineas and those after him , as a perpetual Covenant , Numb . 25. 12. But all this may be spared ; the Point we are in yet ( you know ) is but , what they took here for granted : And having proved , that it is the Church of God , that sayes this , of necessity it must be granted , That they had the Right worship of God among them , ( Other Church there was none then in the world , and nothing could make it a right Church but that ; ) They had both the Rule , and the exercise of the Service of God , as he by His Law had Covenanted it with them . Their Protestation ANd in that , They had no way carried themselves perversely , that 's now the next Part ; And t is the main Drift of all the Text aymes at , the Protestation , that Gods Church here makes . Of which this would be noted at first , They make it not to men ; Men by men may be fouly deceived , But to God himself t is made , Non in Tuo , t is to the Knower of all Hearts , and to the Judg of all men . As much as to say , Thou O God knowest that we lye not , there hath been no falshood , no frowardness in us ; We have been true in , and to thy Covenant . So , to that we come now ; yet alwayes remembring , that the Sermon now is to us , and not to God : Not to tell him , what he knows so well ; But to tell you from him , what he hath taught us of this matter . That so , If you find them that say it , true , By their Line you may level your selves : If wrong , yet you may see by them , where and how to mend it . For us then , the prime Enquiry will be , For the Matter of Law ; That we be not fooled with Fancies in our Religion , nor led by the nose with every false Semblance ; But that out of the Laws of God we may be truly informed , what it is to be True or false in Gods Covenant . Matter of Law. I Pray therefore mark it , In Gods Covenant , I say onely , I do not say in any Covenant : No-tis out of our Quest that ; For , such as the Covenant may be , The forwarder in it , the worse , and the frowarder , the better , the further from mischief . I know they have used a great while to tell you of a Solemn League and Covenant , as though the Name of that should carry it . Alas , poor Souls ! The Solemner the League is , the Covenant's the more damnable , Unless it be a right , and a lawfull Covenant . 'T is not the Name therefore that warrants any thing ; Nothing more usual then wrong Names and false Titles ; But they must be sure the thing it self be without exception , if they look to have the Name of it without Question . Otherwise , Do not we know , that there were Covenants with Devils , such as went for the Gods of the Heathen ! Exod. 23. 32. And the Prophet tells us of a Covenant with Death and Hell. Esa. 28. 15. And such Covenants as these , the frowarder in them , & the further off them , happier man be his dole , ever . As 't is in some Diseases , the less yielding , the better sign , and the more peevish , the more hope of life : So to fly off from such Covenants with all the speed we may , is to fly from Destruction ; And the sooner they are broken and quite abandoned , the sooner is our return back into Gods Covenant , and the safer we by so much ; The shorter our Sin , and the surer our Salvation . Now the word that the Holy Spirit here hath chosen , comes of Shakar , and the Hebrews by that signifie all manner of Lying and Prevarication . Our search therefore here must be , whether men in the Covenant of God , that is , in their Religion , or in any part of it , carry themselves thwart and contrary to it , as far as they can make a lye their Refuge , or can shelter their foul Carriage under any false pretence in it . Let it offend no body this Language , for t is not mine , but the Prophets own description , in terminis , Esay . 28. 15. And he has another Question about it also , that would be a little thought on , Is there not a Lie in my Right Hand ? says he , Esay 44. 20. A lie there ? What means He by that ? Why , because it was a Jewish Ceremony in their Covenants and Oathes , to lift up the Right Hand , by that he expresses his mind ; And these false dealers in their Religion , He saith , they had so beguiled themselves , that 't was not possible for them to free their Souls . Now God forbid : Why not ? Because they never would think with themselves , Is there not a lie in my Right Hand ? A Lie then to be sure there may be there , that 's once ; Satanas ad dextram , as Davids curse goes , Satan at a mans right hand , Psal 109. 5. The Devil standing there , not onely to resist the man , ( as he stood by the High Priest , till the Angel took his room , Zech. 3. 1. ) but to entice him , and win him to himself : And wo is me , for such poor men , so willingly bewitcht by him , as that they could ever think they did best , when that they did was but to make good a lie for him , and by making so foul a lie in their Religion , to snake hands with the Devil ! But I am onely now to lay the Law to them : The Church of the Jews , that appeals here to God against perverseness in His Covenant , does it for that , for a Legal Justification of her self from all Lying , ( we must use that word which the Spirit hath used ) that is , from Hypocrisie and Dissembling , and any false carriage in the practise of their Religion . Now the By-ways of that , they are many ; as many almost as men ; For several men have several devices , to cloak their maliciousness , ever , and to put a Vizard of Godliness upon all that they do : But we must now hold to the Text onely , and not lose our selves on the By. The High Road-ways , or ( as I may say ) the common Church-ways , such as a whole Church are likely to take for perverseness in their Covenant with God , that is in their Religion , are principally two : Either disclaiming the Old , and pretending to another : Or , still pretending to the Old , and yet practising another . Apostacy . 'T Was come to that pass in the Ten Tribes , when after the Calves had been up a while , Elias for evidence of their open Apostacy , charges them with these two particulars , That they had thrown down Gods Altars , and had destroyed His Prophets : And by these He makes his proof ( 't was the Law , that he laid against them , ) That they had quite forsaken the Covenant of God , 1 Reg. 19 14. He thought indeed , that they had destroyed not the Prophets alone , but the true Professors also , all but Himself : Till , God told him , No ; He had yet seven thousand among them , that continued stedfast in His Covenant , do they what they could . But the generalty indeed was gone , carried away quite with their new Devices , their New Feasts , that Moses ne're knew of , and their New Priests , no Sons of Aaron , and had all Covenanted like men , with the Calves in Bethel and Dan , 1 Reg. 12. 29. After this , we meet with a dismal Curse also laid upon Judah , Esay 24. 6. And why ? Because they also had broken the Covenant . What Covenant ? The everlasting Covenant he calls it , yet meaning that of their Religion , which God expected they never should have started from . But how was that ? By transgressing the Laws , says he , and changing the Ordinances . The Ordinances indeed they had a long while preserved ; this therefore was downright now , Shakar to some purpose , They of themselves to change all . But then among them of Judah also , those few that were no such Changelings , What became of them ? Oh! He became a Saviour to them ! For he bears them that witness , They were children yet that would not lie , lo Ieshakar , Esay . 63. 8. that is , How ere they sinned else , very grievously , Yet they would not fail in the main of all , not forgoe the Covenant of God ; God therefore is pleased to put his requital in the same phrase ; Because He had promised it at first to David , lo ashaker , therefore , sayes He I will be true to them and never fail them , Psal. 89 33. How ere I shall punish them for their sins , yet Never will I break my Covenant , nor change the thing that 's gone out of my Lips , ver . 34. But 't is so plain a Case this , that we need no more in it . Hypocrisie . THe tother is far the worse , as having the more danger in it ; When they carry the lye o'th at fashion ; Pretend nothing but Zeal for the right Covenant of God , and yet practise nought but villany against it ! And that this is it he principally aymes at , the Psalmist indeed shews , Because withall he moves that Question , If they do so , shall not God search it out ? ver . 21. Yes , to be sure , He will : Carry they it never so craftily , Do what they can , all the great Masters of this Holy Lie , put what colours they list upon their Covenants , all 's in vain ! For yet , ther 's light enough in Gods Word to discover their Hypocrisie , and Law enough there also , unless God give them Repentance , to cast them all down into the pit of Hell for it . What a notable Precedent for this have ye in the Prophet Jeremy ? God foresaw these cunning tricks in the men of Judah , and to be sure to meet with them i'th'end , He begins with them in it ; He calls to the Prophet to proclaim to them Dibre haberith , the words of the Covenant , Jer. 11. 2. and to lay his Curse upon them that keep it not , ver . 3. That done , He makes him proclaim it over again , ver . 6. and shew them How He had plagued their Fathers for not keeping it , ver . 8. How then ? Little dream't they , that God did all this , to discover their Craft : Therefore they presently ( very Holy men ! ) put on a good face , and combine most Religiously together , And now All as One man , They are for the Covenant , yea mary are they ; So that the Prophet himself ( a man rightly meaning ) thought , all would have been well . But then he presently tells us , God call'd again unto Him , and told Him , They deceived Him , what ere they pretended , this of theirs was none of His Covenant , 'T was all but Kesher , this , vers . 9. A strong Conspiracy between the Two Houses . They had indeed now subtilly made a Solemn League between those two Kingdomes ; But the Rebellion was the greater for that , Because it carried away the poor people of God with that pretence ; And thereby His Covenant , the right and true Covenant of God , was the more foully broken by them , vers . 10. So that He flatly commands the Prophet , ( and that not once , but twice ) Not so much as once to pray for them , vers . 14. And how think you of this now ? But this is onely to shew , how such Cases stand in Law ; That 's our Point ; And here God himself was the Judge in it , the Prophet makes but the Report of it : But it comes home so close to us , that I doubt , all the cunning 'twixt Orkney and Silley will be able to make no other Issue in it . For if they think to tell us , There indeed it could be other then so , not but a shameful Lie , and a very damnable Case , because all their conspiring then was in truth , to promote the Worship of Baal vers . 17. But how can that be the Case now among us ? Alas , how easily is this put by ? For , in competition with the Covenant of God , every thing that is not it , is Baal ; Let them call it the Covenant , as much as they will , An Ingagement , or what they will nick-name it ; yet 't is an Idol ; and all the Worship they give it , is flat Idolatry ; no better then the Worshipping of Baal : For why ? Is it not set up against God ? Does it not shoulder His Covenant ? sits cheek by joll with it ? Yea , 't is the thing , that 's alone and principally intended by them : So they make a very Baal of it . Let me tell them therefore , there are in the World more Baal , then one ; An 't were but a wisp , yet when they joyn it with that which belongs unto God , and couple it with His Covenant , Their God they make it , 't is a Baal to them . It is not for nothing therefore , that the Scripture so often makes that word Plural ; We are told of leaving God , and serving Baalim , Judg 2. 11. that is , Any thing else ( that 's in Divine esteem with men ) but God ; Any thing by them set up with God , To them , that 's their Baal , a privy Idol in their budget : So , that d'off will no way help them . Of all the rest not in this matter of Covenanting ; For howsoever they have gone to work too now , to make a wretched People willing to be cheated by them ; let me give them this gift , The first Idolatry , that the People of God ever committed with any Baal , was in reference to a Covenant . And how say you then ? Does this suit right ? Take another . The first Covenant that ever Gods People made ( of their own heads , without Gods Deputy to lead them , ) was a Covenant with Baal . And now I hope they will thank me , for I am come close home to them . But I will not fail to make it good ; For the Word of God is express in it : When Gideon was dead , they went a whoring after Baalim , and made Baal Berith their God Judg. 8. 33. Baal Berith a God ? Now a' Gods name , what 's that ? Why in plain English , 't is the Idol of a Covenant ; so Berith signifies . So that for all brave Covenanters here you see , Baal is their Chief , The very first that e're twang'd that way , to be entertain'd by the People , and to Covenant with them . And yet for the while then , who but He ? Lord ! such a Racket ! In all hast there must be an House made for Him ( a Temple forsooth , for a God ) by the wise Lords of Sichem , Judg. 9. 4. And there he must have his Exchequer , to receive what came in upon the Publick Faith : And then presently upon that score , brave and jolly men , they make themselves , no less then King-makers , and out of their Treasury , they assign him an Allowance of Seventy pieces of Silver for the States service . What to do ? A Holy Work , you may be sure : To hire vagring Villains , to go and murther seventy of his Fathers Sons , that He onely may be their King , ver . 5. And for a few years this held on bravely ; Till at last , God in Vengeance upon them all , sent an Evil Spirit between Him and his Makers , His great Masters : And what was the Issue ? First , He destroyed Them and their City , ver . 45. and at once burnt the House of their God Berith , as great a God as he was , He and his Covenant went to the Fire , ( who but their new General against it more then any ? ) and a Thousand of the chief Covenanters roasted together with it , vers . 49. And within a while after , this King of theirs had his own brains beaten out , vers . 53. and yet as short a time as he had , to make it more remarkable , he murthered himself also , by making his own Man to be his Murtherer , vers . 54 This is the Account , which the Spirit of God gives you of that Solemn League and Covenant , the first of the kind ! The Result whereof is this , That in point of Law the word it self works just nothing : To talk therefore now of a Covenant , and to look , that alone should do it , alas , 't is but a poor piece of Sophistry ; none but S. Pauls Galatians will be bewitch't by the bare Name of it ; For sacred it may be , and it may be abominable . Do you not see , how the Holy Spirit used it , even when the Name of God is joyned to it ? mentioning the Covenant of God , He meant the true God ; But yet naming it so , The God of their Covenant , He meant a Filthy Idol . Will you any more ? Is not , I pray , the same term of Covenanting given in Scripture to the vilest of all Gods Enemies ? The Edomites and Ismaelites , the Moabites and Hagarens ; Gebal , and Ammon , and Amalek , the Philistins , with them that dwell at Tyre ; Assur also is joyned unto them . A desperate Crew ! Rake all the world , and not find a worse ! And now what of them ? As we read it , it is , They have cast their Heads together and are confederate against Thee . Psal. 83. 5. Confederate ! A word very unadvisedly ( by their good leaves ) here used ; Else , why was it then at the Reformation , turn'd out of Latin ? Confederate is meerly Latine . But this very Berith is the word in the Psalm , They have all entered into a Covenant against Thee . You see therefore , what a goodly race of Covenanters then there was , and of what Date they originally be . And this above all , Baal Berithans they were all , The Servants of Baalim , of Idols and Devils ; All in a solemn Covenant against the true God : And therefore the Spirit of God would not omit , there to set down their proper Motto also , The Sum of their Resolution what it was , Let us take to our selves the Houses of God in possession , vers . 12 ▪ Well then , The Law proving to be this , That Covenant there is none justifiable and good , with no Person , no People , no Nations , that is ever warrantable , unless we can truly tell God the Covenant is His , that it is Pactum Tuum , such as is in a fair Order to Him , for the true Drift of it , and for the chief right in it , and such , as He will surely own it , Therefore , to put upon Him that , that 's none of His ; Or under pretence of His better Worship , and purer Service , to combine for ought , that 's quite contrary to His Will , But onely , because they say it is His , they will force it upon others , so to be taken , and so to be done , That this is Sheker in every degree of it , very Froward , Lying , and false dealing with God , a perverse and wicked course in all of them , opposite ( less or more ) to the true Covenant of God , and that the Vengeance of God will at last seize on all , that have any hand in it , The Tryal will now be no long labour ; to find , for Matter of Fact , Whether their Plea here in the Psalm be true or no : Whither they for any froward carriage toward the Covenant of their God , will be found to stand Not Guilty . But it will be a longer business though , then we can hope to end it , before the usual limitation of our Hour be ended . For be the Evidence , that will be brought , never so clear , yet they must have Time to hear it all , and liberty to except , what they can against it ; They must also be heard at large , What they have to say for themselves : God forbid else . For any man to be accused , and he cannot tell by whom ; To be impeached , and he knows not of what ; Condemned , and he never heard Why , nor ever was heard , what he could say ; If there be any Law to warrant such proceedings , it must be fetcht out of Scythia ; If any Religion can suit with it , 't is onely that of the Sichemites God , ycleped Baal Berith , The Lord of the New Covenant . By your good leaves therefore , we will not huddle it , nor shall our Defendants in the Text be pinch't at all in Time ; Here therefore wee 'l now adjourn , till God give the next leisure . The Second PART . Nor behaved our selves frowardly in Thy Covenant . HEre 's one thing supposed in this Text ; That Covenanters these men were , comprized in a Covenant with Him whom they treat with . And within the Verge of that , there are three particulars . First , that 't is the Church of the Jews that are the Persons now treating . Secondly , That God Himself is the Person to whom they make this Address : And lastly , That the Business is to clear themselves , as to His Covenant , from frowardness , perverseness , and Lying in all their Deportment . And all this , by the Blessing of God , hath been formerly unfolded by us . We then fell upon a Distinction also , as touching Gods Covenant . That here is not meant the Providential parts thereof ; At first , provided for Adam , in Gods Blessings of Nature , by the Revolution of the Day and the Night ; Nor the second , vouchsafed to Noah , for the worlds security against any new Deluge ; Nor yet a third , by His Blessings upon Abraham , to give him an Holy feed , and so continued to Isaac and Jacob , to settle that Seed in the Land of Promise . None of these proved to be Gods Covenant here in the Text. But 't is the Conditional part of it that they now aim at ; At the Rule , that God of old had prescribed to them , for the worshipping of Him as God , and at those Duties , that they were by His Covenant bound to , for the observing of His Holy Law : The general Heads whereof we found to be these two , Their Religion , and their Allegiance . So there came in their Protestation ( and that 's made to God himself , ) of their Integrity , That they were all true men to this Covenant , ever had been , and still were forward and ready and upright in their Duties , free from all untowardness and frowardness , from all perverseness , lying , and dissembling , in the whole managery of it . So , that then led us necessarily to go and argue the Point a while ; And first , For Matter of Law , To define , what it is to be false in Gods Covenant . And by that we found , That the bare Name of a Covenant works nothing , but that the solemner a League is , the more damnable the Covenant may be , and so may oblige men the straightlier to a speedy breaking of it , and to an utter abandoning of it . The Matter therefore of the Covenant was onely to be looked to , to see , VVhither they did not , either disclaim the old One , ( the true one ) and pretend to another ; Or if not so palpably cross , yet ( which has more danger in it ; ) VVhither pretending still to the old , they did not practise another . For if so , if either of these , then by the Law , that proved an Abominable Lie , no less then the setting up of an Idol , 't was the Worshipping of Baal more then God. And this was at large exemplified by their Baal Berith , the God ( forsooth ) of their Covenant ; That proved to be the first Idolatry that ever Gods People committed with any Baal ; And so , the first Covenant that the People took upon them to bring in , was a Covenant with Baal , which the more they termed it Gods Covenant , the fouler was the Lie , and the fiercer it 'h end was the Vengeance of God upon it . And thus far now , we went before . But then being come to the next Point , The Matter of Fact , to examine their Plea of Not Guilty , and finding that , a larger business by far , then the Time would then admit , there we adjourned . Therefore now by gods Providence being brought upon it again , there we are now to set in anew , and so to proceed in it , as God shall enable us . Joyn you therefore with me , I beseech you , in Humble Prayer to Him for His blessed Assistance , &c. Nor behave our selves frowardly , &c. WE are now to suppose the Court set again , That of our Conscience , first ; And now let 's but see , how the Evidence comes trowling in . First , False Rumours raised ; Scandals divulged ; Jealousies fomented ; Gods Anointed in his Footsteps standered . Then , Routs approved of ; Arms taken up ; VVars levied ; Gods VVord rejected ; Gods Sword resisted . After that , Mens properties invaded ; their Persons destroyed ; The Lords Vineyard rooted up ; All Rights baffled ; Laws supprest ; The Ordinances all changed . To go no higher yet then this ; Though this be far the least part of the publick outrages rushing in with a Covenant . Then for a Personal Charge upon Men. Such a one ( not to name him now ; though who knows not many thousand such Ones ? ) That he might share in the booty , and patch up a mean Fortune in a few Moneths : Another , That he might save his own stake , and be out of the lash of the Common Scourge : A third , That he might curry but favour enough , to get a little Release of the Curses upon him , To comply with the Times , and run along as the stream goes , [ As our Psalmist elsewhere has it , With the froward to learn frowardness , Psal. 18. But their Guides from Rome , I understand , could play the good Fellows , and make a case of Conscience of it , and termed it , submitting to the present Authority , under whose Protection they lived ; ] All this , and more , abundantly proved , And yet now in a Tryal of Frowardness , will it be possible for such Covenant-mongers not to be found Guilty ? But for a Defence in their Covenant , we must not but hear , what Plea they would use . For they alledge , That they had good Law for that they did : Have they not clear Precedents from Gods People of old , as so many ruled Cases , practised by Them , and never reproved by God ? Well then , Christians therefore now are to do the like , for the due preserving of their Religion . And somewhat of this they say , hath truth enough in it ; There are store of Examples from Time to time in Scripture , of the Covenant of God renewed among His People . But then I must tell them , Such Examples they are all , every one of them , as if the Proceedings of our Times be applied to them , there shall need no other Judgment . 'T will prove as vast a difference , and as vile , set them once together , as is the Picture of a Dog to the Image of a Man ; Can they not relish this ? Then , as is the shape of a foul Fiend to the Pourtraiture of a Blessed Angel. 1. Nothing added to Gods Covenant . This for First , That from the first to the last , there 's nothing Covenanted for in Scripture , but what was ordain'd for them from the beginning ; From the beginning of their Law , which God gave them in Horeb , That was for his Worship , and all relating thereunto ; and from the beginning of their Kingdom , unto which God had after brought them , That was for the whole Civil Government ; But 't was one and the same Covenant still ; None but the first , No new tricks , foisted in at pleasure with the very Ordinance of God , upon any specious pretences whatsoever . Onely there 's one Story indeed ; If they mean that for their Pattern , worth our looking at it . It was of the new Samaritans , that were placed in the Room of the Captivated Israelites ; The Lyons had taught them to be very godly , and so they got them a Priest , and of him they learned , how they should fear the Lord , 2 Reg. 17. 18. This was very well , was it not ? Arrant Assirians of a sudden to become so very holy ? And how then ? So they feared the Lord , sayes that Text , ver . 32. That is , They used the right worship of the true God. But how though did they it ? Here comes in the point . Not without tricks enough of their own , with it , First , They themselves became Priest-makers : And next , 'T was no matter Who , the meanest among them would serve , and was set up to do the Sacrifice . Well : Yet once again the Text there strikes upon the former string , and tells ▪ us , that They worshipped the Lord , ver . 33. Did they so ? And what would we more ? Nothing : Did it not tells us withal , that there was more ; For they served their own Gods too . Oh , is that it ? T is plain therefore the Holy Ghost hath set it down this , but by way of an Irony , as an Holy Scoffe upon them , Excellent worshippers of God these , That worship Him , How they list , and whom they list with Him ! So for a Conclusion in the verse following , the Holy Spirit deals plain and down right with them . They feared not the Lord , ver . 34. But is not this strange ? Twice afore They feared the Lord , and now flatly , They feared not the Lord. How must this be unriddled ? T is done to our hands ; The Reason follows there . Because they did it not , According to the Statutes , and Ordinances , and Law , that God had commanded at first , But besides the Right Covenant , ver . 38 , they had thrust in what pleased them , into the new Model of their Religion . And you see how well God likes of that . And that 's the first Exception here , A Covenant for the Religion loudly cried up , but yet sufficiently powdered with Additionals , of Hypocrisie , Perjury , Violence , Treason , Rebellion ; And yet still must go for the Covenant of God. Find they any such medlies in Scripture , but of their good Brethren , the Samaritans ? The sway of this Point therefore still lies in Tuo . For Tuum it cannot , it will not be , none of Gods Covenant , lift they their hands ne're so high , unless the Contents of it be taken out of His will alone , He the onely Author and Dictator of it , and no Compeers with Him ( North , or South ) in it to mingle their good pleasures with it . The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also implies as much . Other words there are that do indifferently signifie Agreements , and Compacts , Leagues also , and Conspiracies . But Berith is never construed by these . To tell us , That Gods Covenant with us , must still be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . The New Testament , and the Old Testament bear no other Name but that . And therefore it is not Tuum , unless it may stand for Testamentum also . 'T is none of that which is rightly called Gods Covenant , Psal. 105. 9. unless it may be added , that 't is His Law , and His Everlasting Testament , vers . 10 that is , His own known Will and Testament , devised and established by Himself alone , and no sprinklings in it , cogg'd by others and foisted in for His ; Much less ever borrowed you wot where , and then obtruded , and forced upon Him , that it shall be His , whether he will or no. 2. No Covenant without Gods Deputy . YEt there 's a second Exception , worse then the first : Because , but by means of the second , the first could never be . And the ground of that is this . In S. Scripture , there 's not one of those Covenants to which they pretend , but was of Gods onely making and moving . As he had begun it in Horeb , there by Himself first , with his own Voice from Heaven , He gave them the Ten Commandements ; And then for all the other parts of his covenant , and of the Religion , to which He bound Them , He sent it all to them by His Deputy , Moses ; 'T was He , Gods Vicegerent , ( and in place of King to them , Deut. 33. 5. ) that ordered all their Covenanting with God : And so it held on in all ●ges , No Covenant then ever heard of , but what the King , who stood above them all , as in Gods place , or who by Reason of His Absence or Age , was appointed by the Law of God to stand in the Kings place , prescribed it unto them , or imposed it upon them . Howe're the people then had a part in the Covenant , because it was for them , and with them , yet it was but the Obeying part , meaning the Duty required of Them , as one told them , Vobis obsequii gloria relicta est , That was all that the people had to do with it ; Upon them it was laid to see it performed ; But as for the Legislative part , the Authority in calling them to a Covenant , and in designing , what the Tenor of that Covenant ( this , or that part of the Law ) then should be , Mandata mea mihi , was Gods Rule ever , All the thousands of Israel had nothing to do in that part , nor were ever to meddle with it : It was Holy to the Lord that , and wholly appertained to the Supreme under Him. To hear therefore now of a Covenant for Religion without Gods Deputy to lead it ; How much more , to have it hammer'd of purpose , not onely against his Leading or Medling in it , but also by a Hellish Device ( yet because of their Use , allowed to be Holy , and very Divine ) to frame such a blessed Distinction in it , as safely thereby to commit an Horrible Rape in the presence of God , and by force to snatch from Him His Royal Authority , and to Arm His Subjects with it against His Person , and so , They to lead Him to what they list , and ( at last ) to the very block , ) and yet must this be countenanced out of Gods Word ? And must it go for His Covenant , that is so flatly against Him ? Gods Covenant point blank against Gods Anointed ? Blessed Lord ! What Logick call they This ? I must deal plainly . It can grow no where , but where this Covenant it self grew ; There indeed it has ever been found , what Reason soe're , and proof to the contrary , yet all the Reason , when they are at a pinch , that they regard to go by , is , It is so , Because it is so . And therefore they must , and will have it so , If a Bible in Hand , with Powder , and Shot will do it . But you shall not trust me alone in this point . Use your own Eyes , I beseech you , while I shall bestow so much Time upon them , as to point a finger to all their Examples . The first , I can meet with , was in Moab , more then 40. years after that in Horeb , when all the first Breed was dead , Deut. 31. 9. and then Moses in stead of God ( there you have the Doer of it ) He manages the business , and engages the Children , as at first he had done their Fathers , to the observing the Law of their God. There you have the Matter of it . 2. In Sechem , the same was done again , much after such a distance of Time , but the difference else , in the main , none . For the same Law it was , and 't was Joshua now that did it . Josh. 24. 25. 3. After that , I do not light upon another , but what I acquainted you with , of Baal Berith , till the Covenant made in Hebron , and that seems to have been onely about the Temporal Government ; 'T was in effect , but an Oath of Allegiance , taken in the presence of God , and David the King Himself He takes it of them , 2 Sam. 5 ▪ 4. The next was at Jerusalem , and it was onely about the Religion ; At which they were all to swear solemnly , To seek the Lord , that was , To worship Him onely , upon pain of Death , as the Law of old was : But Asa the King He renewed it now , and put it upon them , 2 Par. 15. 9. 5 Another after it there was at Jerusalem , and it was of both , both for the Religion , for the Ancient Worship of God , ( for Baals Religion had been interloping ) and for their Obedience to their true King Joash ; He was but a Child indeed , not seven years old , and Athaliah had usurped the Throne ; But yet all was now in his Name , and his Right , and done all by Jehoiada his Uncle , who was the High-Priest , and the Kings High Protector , 2 Reg. 11. 17. 6 , Hezekiah's Covenant followed next . And to that the King first assembles all the Priests and the Levites , and gives them in charge to sanctifie themselves , and to purge the Temple , ( for much pollution there had been ) and to set all things right there , for the right Service of God. And the Reason he gives them is , For it is in my heart to make the Covenant for the Lord , 2 Par. 29. 10. And to that purpose he calls the whole Kingdome together . 2 Par. 30. 1. 7. Shall we need any more ? There 's one Example yet , in a Time none of the orderlyest , when Jerusalem was beset with the Army of Babilon , Jer. 34. 7. and what was that ? A Covenant , as the present occasion then gave them , of renewing one point of their Law long disused , and Zedekiah the King was he that did it ver . 8. 8. And one more yet : For after the return from Captivity , there 's an Oath made by all Israel , for performance of another particular , then most necessary : And who was the Authour of that ? The people , if ever , now surely . No ; 'T was Ezra the Priest , but as a Commissioner , come into the Land , with Authority from Artaxerxes the great King , and so he takes it in hand , when Shecaniah , a Prince of the blood Royal , ( but , in no Commission ) by moving him earnestly to it , acknowledges , That it was not lawfull for any of them , for all of them , to set upon it without Him : [ Arise , saith he , because this matter belongs to thee , and we are to be ordered by thee ; But be thou couragious and do it . ] Ezra . 10. 3. & 4. 9. And that I may not seem to balk any , Take one more yet , that has not the word of a Covenant in it , but in Truth it amounts to no less , an Oath with a Curse upon them all , if they do not the Law , that God had prescribed them , Nehem. 10. 29. wherein He as the Tirshatha ( the Supream Governour in Commission ) is the Leader of all . ver . 1. And now , I think , I have left out none : Let this Covenanting Generation come now , and bring out their Baal Berith , that Idol Covenant ; And say , which of these is the Copy they pretend to go by , for an Example in S. Scripture . Will they be able to shew you , they have put nothing in their Covenant , but what was there of old , to be readily found in the Word and Will of God ? Or rather , clean contrary , very much of it , such as God abhorrs , so flat against Godliness , Loyalty , Justice , and Truth ? Was God also at the making of it ? Which of them sate at the Tables head for Him : Who was Gods Deputy in it ? What was His Name , that had power to call them to it , and to require it of them ? Well! Let them look to their Copy a little better ; For Covenant of God it will never be , whose soever it proves to be , unless these two Conditions , The plain Will of God , and the Right Officer under God , both be clearly in it . 3. All honest Covenants , are Gods. Though I do not look , such Zelots as they are , should leave clamouring still for their Covenant , in that I spy another starting hole they have yet . For Agreements between man and man , private Covenants , touching Ordinary things , are in S. Scripture stiled , The Covenant of God. And shall not then a consent of all the People be Sacred ? The Resolution of whole Nations much more be counted so , and without any Question be set upon Gods score ? And the Truth is , this they say , hath not a little truth in it . For that Covenant which Jonathan and David entred into 1 Sam. 18. 3 , David himself sayes , 't was the Covenant of the Lord , 1 Sam. 20. 8. The Ordinary Contract also , which every Wife made with her Husband , ( who is to the Wife ever in Gods stead , ) 't was the Covenant of her God , Prov. 2. 17. Nay , we will come home to them ; A League , that the men of Tyre , Heathen men , ( mark that ; ) had made with the Jewes , God ownes it so , that he acknowledges it for a Brotherly Covenant , ( lo ye there ) and will avenge the breach of it , Amos 2 , 9. And that Oath which the King of Babylon had put upon the King of Judah , of Fealty to Him , when he revolted from it , God was so highly displeased , that He ( to make it surer ) took His Oath , [ As I live , sayes the Lord , my Oath , which he hath despised , and my Covenant which he hath broken , ( Mine , and Mine , All now was Gods , ) will I recompence upon his own Head. ] Ezech. 17. 19. By the way then upon this , shall we not desire , that our godly Brethren would shew us , whether he be the same God , still ? If he be , Then how go they to work with this God , or what order have they taken with him , about their Oathes of Supremacy , and of Allegiance , of Canonical Obedience also , and sundry other Bonds they were in by Local Statutes upon those Preferments , and Offices , that he had brought them to ? I but ask them this by the way . Now the Reason of all this , what is it , but thus ? Because every Covenant , be it but private , between man and man , be it also with whom it will be ( with a Jew , or a Turk ; that 's all one , by all their leaves , that would perswade you otherwise , both at Rome and here ; ) Yet if it be broken , there lies a Complaint to God about it , Psal. 55. 21. For supposing the thing agreed upon to be in it self Just and Lawfull , ( In Re Licitâ , So Lawfull , as that Well and Rightly it may be done ; How much more , if it be Res Debita , So Due , as that of Right it ought to be done ! ) 'T is not onely a Branch of the Law of God , as a Quil out of that wing , and in that Relation entitles God to it ; But also , seeing the Parties were agreed to call God to it , ( and call him they did at the making of it , ) both as a witness in it , and as the Judge of it , and also as th' Avenger for it , thus all honest Covenants come to be Gods ; Let but the matter be Justifiable and Due , have Truth and Honesty in it ▪ and whose bargain so e're it be , or wheresoe're it be driven , be it but in a Scriveners shop , nay under a Hedg , ( as Jonathan's and David's was little other , 1 Sam. 23. 16. ) yet it binds , because of the Power and Presence of God. But ' o th' tother side , if the matter agreed upon be naught and Illegal , carry it any Iniquity folded up in it , 't is never good then from the beginning , far enough from having any Interest in God , ne're hope for 't , there 's no beguiling of him , all the Combining in the world cannot make God their Pandar . No , All in that kind is but Vinculum Iniquitatis , and the more Solemnity or Admixture of Holy Forms , the worse the business ever , and the sooner must men repent , and utterly forsake it . For 't is no better then , then what 's usually to be found in Stangate-hole , or on Shooters Hill ; No circumstances of Time , or Place , or Persons , or Manner , or any thing else , can hallow it . But then over and above all this , 'T is another thing quite , when t is ordained to carry a Solemnity between God , and men , ayming at any Publick Obligement of themselves unto God. For there , be they never so many , the People are all but one Party still , there 's but one side , yet ; So all this while t is a Covenant with no Body , till God make himself a Party ; Some body therefore must be there for Him , for God. And then , for the best of our Brethren ( wo is me for them ; They are indeed Hail fellow with God in too many things ; ) to make account , that they have him at a whistle , and can force God , to make one at it , whether He will or no , or when they would have Him , if they do but hold up a finger ; By their good leaves , this falls under that of David , The Fool said in his heart , Non Deus . Psal. 14. 1. 'T is to make Him their Drudge , and not their God ; No God , such a one , be bold on 't , but a Servant , so mean and vile a servant , that an honest mans slave would be loath to change with him . Make no other Account therefore , but that the Verdict here must needs go against them ; 'T will be found Frowardly and Falsly , more then enough , and cast they will be ( all the sort of them ) for perverse carriage in the Covenant of God. Time was , I find , when the Prophet would have been content , if he might , to have excused such another company of them ; But on no side could he look , that it proved not False play , every way : He is forced therefore to give it over , and to find the Bill , Though they swear , The Lord liveth , yet to be sure , they swear falsly , sayes he , Jer. 5. 2. How so ? Because what they swear , much of it is that , that is false , the rest , is that they mean to make false . Howbeit then , afore it come to that , here 's a step in the Text , that must well be look't to . For in any matter of our Duty to God and Man , suppose it our Allegiance , or any other due Obedience , Know we must , 't is a spice of Frowardness , not to be forward , not toward ever , and zealously ready to perform our Duty , so bent upon it , that we need not fear to appeal unto God about it . Much more then savours it of extreme untowardness , to seek excuses , or delayes in it , and to be ready to take any diversions from it , or occasions against it : But then , of all the rest , to pretend hotly to it , and yet to go quite another way ; When they make a Solemn Covenant for it , and needs will pull God in to be a party , then to swear falsly , this the Prophet calls , Judgment springing up as Hemlock , Hos. 10. 4. And his meaning is , No Venome so abominable , and gross as this , So that 't will be impossible to escape the Judgment . How to be known , this . BUt how then ? Where are we now ? Will any plead Ignorance in it ? Will they alledge , That that they do in it , being commonly and loudly cry'd up for the Covenant of God , And that , not in the Streets alone by a Rabble , but amidst the Sages , and the Common-Councils ; Nay , the very Pulpits of those , that ever bare their Heads for mighty Prophets among them , sounding out nothing else continually , but the Goodness of the Cause , and the Curse upon Meroz , Judg. 5. 23. Damnation to them , that joyned not in such a Duty , How should other Men be able to Judge it ? Which way should one of a Thousand among the People be able to tell himself , Whether it were the Covenant of God or no ? All this hath fully been resolved already , by those two infallible Marks , First , If it have any thing else in it , that is not to be had out of the Word and Will of God , by a Clear Consequence from it . Next , if it be a Headless piece , and Gods Vicegerent , His true Deputy , be not the Stipulator for God , and the Leader in it . And though the former of these two may be thought too deep for e'ry one to skill of , yet the second is plain enough , and he that has but half an Eye may easily discover it . But what shall we need to go further then the Text for it ? I pray do but mark that . The care of Gods Church there , is , To clear her self to God , from Perversness , from all that may be called Lying , and froward dealing in His Covenant . Well and good then ; If Gods Covenant be such , so pure and holy , that it may not abide any Lying , upon no terms endure any frowardness of ours , or perverse behaviour in us , so much as to be mingled with it , To build upon it then , absolutely in it self , there can be no such matter , No froward dealing must there ever be , no false meaning at all in it , or else Covenant it must be none of Gods. Put it upon that Issue then , let the good People of God look but to that , and go no further ; Leaving them all their Sophistry and Pulpit slights , examine you no more but that . Say then , Find you false pretending in it ? ( You have had it long enough , to know it throughly . ) Is any thing said there , in that Covenant , that you see is not , never was , intended ? Find you any Lying at all , either in the Device , or in the Carriage of it ? Is one thing said , and quite another thing done ? Go to then , This is enough . For , if so , then this is Falsly and Frowardly , to be sure : And by this then 't is clear , that 't is none of Gods Covenant . Now this every man of you is able to discover , that can but tell Twenty . I must be bold therefore to tell you ; He that sees it not , it is not for want of Eyes , nor for want of Light , ( either of these indeed would be some excuse , ) but 't is for want of Will onely . As our Saviour hath turned it out of the Prophet , Their Eyes are shut , sayes He , Esay 6. 9. But they themselves have shut them , sayes Christ , Matth. 13. 15. And why ? Because the god of this world hath blinded their minds , saith S. Paul , 2 Cor. 4. 4. There 's the business ; And now , rather then not enjoy this world ; that God shall content them , a God he is there called , and now be the Covenant what it will be , so that upon any report God be there , They will look for no other God in it , least otherwise the Crosses of this world should betide them for it . But then , this also is point blank against the Text. For that begins , And though all this be come upon us , yet do we not forget thee , nor behave our selves frowardly in thy Covenant . No play false with God they would not , to ease themselves of any misery that was fallen upon them : Much less , had they already done it , to prevent the coming of it ; Least of all , onely for filthy lucres sake , to make themselves gainers and to suck advantages out of the milk of any other Covenant . Pactum Iuum , therefore they were still able to say to God , and not Pactum Nostrum ? They knew no other Covenant , but His. But that , they so well knew to be His , Given by Him alone , and not taken up by men ( no new Humane , Forgery shall I call it ? or rather idolatry , made , as Idols use ever to be , after some resemblance of Gods Covenant , and coloured very like it ? ) that they would be able to give him a true account of His own , and of their upright dealings in it . Yet I would now pray you , to mark that also , that In Pacto Tuo , is all they say : they pretend to no more ; It is no Pharisaical brag of them this , as who should say , their doings were quite without Sin , or , that they would justifie all their wayes before God ; Far be it from them , to have any such thought ▪ No ? 'T is onely intended here , as concerning the point of their Allegiance , and of their Worshipping of God aright . You may trace it out by this ; For nothing carries the Name of God so much , and so kindly , as those two do , The worship of God , and Gods Vicegerent . Now they presently expound themselves so ; That they had not forgotten the Name of their God , ver . 21. Their meaning therefore here must needs be , That to the Rule of his Worship , which was given them in His Name , Or to that Authority , which bare His Name , and had given the Rule , they could never be brought to shew any frowardness . And from hence those three Children of God , no doubt , drew their pattern . Charged indeed they were upon grievous pains to forgoe the right Worship of God , and to do as others did , to worship the New Image , that was all of gold , Dan 3. 10. But these golden pretences could not work upon them ; Their answer therefore was ready , Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us , and He will deliver us ; That was well , if they were sure of that part : But if not , be it known , we will not worship any new Image , whatsoever come of it . An Holy and a brave Resolution this ! But no more then is due from all Gods Servants , in any such tryals , nothing must make them transgress that Covenant which they were in , for their serving of God ; If God by himself , or by his second self the King , call'd for no altering , they were never to endure any , much less , to induce any . And what we say of our Religion , must still be taken of our Allegiance also ; They ever go together ; And Alterations there may be in both , No body sayes to the contrary . But then , 't is God alone , and not man , that must alter them . It was for nothing else , that God , after he had changed the Government of Israel from one form to another , till at last he had brought it to Kings , and in that course had once removed it too , from Saul to David , yet then He set up his rest , and to tell them so , He term'd it His Covenant , Psalm . 89. 3. I have made it a Covenant with my servant David , and his seed after him , to last for ever . And this it was , that made David's great Grandchild Abiah , to chalenge it by the Right of God , as given to David , and to his sons by a Covenant of salt , 2 Par. 13. 5. That Abiah was not i th' right though , and that his Argument held not , it was Because God himself had there made the Division of the Kingdoms , and had sent one Prophet to foretel it , 1 Reg. 11. 35. and another after to warrant it , The thing is done by me , 2 Par. 11. 4. But otherwise , by man it could never else have been done rightly , nor would it ever have held ; No man , not all the men in the Kingdom ( whatsoever is told you of the Power of the People , by those that worship that many headed Monster ) had Power or Authority to alter that Covenant of God with David , more then they had to alter his Covenant of the Day and the Night in their Seasons , sayes God himself , if men would believe him , Jerem. 33. 21. They were never to meddle with it , unless God himself gave order expresly in it . You shall find it so in the forenamed Psalm , There 't is , My Covenant with David , Psal. 89. 3. and My Covenant shall stand fast with him . ver . 29. and My Covenant will I not break , ver . 34. and who dare now go contrary ? And yet at last we hear of him , Thou art displeased at him , and thou hast broken the Covenant of thy Servant , ver . 38. Yes , Thou hast ! God may do it , No man denies that ; But the men that do it without order from God , Howe'ere they make the Success of their Sin to be a sign of Gods Will , Out alas , 't is no such matter , 'T is but a Lie in His Covenant all they do , and the men of Belial they are for it , and God will not suffer them to go unavenged , ( first or last , ) that do it : No , nor them neither ( I fear me ) that suffer it , and yield to have other men do it . And I could now shew you the like of the Holy Priesthood also , For God is in Covenant likewise with them , and His Covenant with them is by Himself ( once and again ) set in the same equipage with his Covenant of the Kingdom , and with his Covenant of the day and night , Jer. 33. 22. And had it not been ever meant so , it had been but an odd Farewell , that the Blessed Son of God ( when he had now altered the Priesthood , as he had Power to do ) took off his twelve Apostles ; For Loe I am with you alway unto the end of the world , are the last words He sayes to them , Math. 28. 20. But loe , By your leave , you shall not , Sir , have the brave Baal Berithans , your new Covenanters sworn , if men will but rightly conster them : For to be with Them to the end of the world , Christ could not mean it , not with the Apostles themselves , That was impossible , but in their Successors ; And the Successors of the Apostles were those , whom the Apostles themselves called Bishops , with whom the Apostles left the Power of Ego mitto Vos , of continuing that Order , or of Subordaining any New. And concerning the Bishops , you know what the Covenanters have sworn , and in very that , have forsworn sufficiently . But I make no stay at this , though I thought it not unfit to cast it in , onely by the way , because of their word Covenant , that you might have a taste of all the Covenants of God , and of these mens Counter-Covenanting . But I have another-gates Covenant now to conclude all with . Full well therefore may this Covenant in the Text be said to concern the King , Gods Secular Minister , and the Priest , Gods Spiritual Minister , when as Christ himself , ( the Son of God ; He , the King of Kings , and Lord of Lords , the Author of all our Religion , our great High Priest , and the Bishop or our Souls , the very root therefore of all Episcopacy , which they shall never be able to root out , howe're they may sometimes lopp of His Branches , He that is the Maker of all that are His to be Kings and Priests unto God his Father , Apoc. 1. 6. ) is Himself the very Covenant , for all those that belong unto God. Think not strange of this , I can shew you the very Charter of it , and 't is worthy your looking on . It begins in a most Solemn and Divine Form , Thus saith God the Lord , He that created the Heavens , and stretched them out , that spreadeth forth the Earth , and all that comes out of it ; That giveth Breath to all People upon it , and Spirit to all that walk therein ; I the Lord have called Thee in Righteousness , and I will take Thee by thy Hand , and will preserve Thee , and will give Thee for a Covenant to the People , for a Light to the Gentiles . Esay 42. 5 , 6. And lest that should not stick with them ▪ again he is at it , In an acceptable time , and in the day of Salvation , will I give Thee for a Covenant of the People . Esay 49. 8. Now we have S. Pauls warrant , That time was then , when Christ was given , 2 Cor. 6 2. There are of the succeeding Prophets also express in it . By Jeremy the Record of it is at large set down , under the Title of a New Covenant , Jer : 31. 31. And that he means it all of the New Covenant Christ , is clear by the Apostles recital of it , Heb. 8. 8. Then , it was a New one : But ever it was to be New , because to last Eternally , never no other Covenant to be after It , after Christ. And so likewise Ezekiel , after many Heavenly Amplifications of it , and exclusive all to the old Covenant , Ezek. 16. 61 , He reduces it all into this Personal Aphorisme , I will be their God , and they shall be my People , Ezek 37. 27. And that this also is all meant of Christ himself , the same Apostle informs us , 2 Cor. 6. 16. For the Love of God then , I beseech you all , have some care of your Souls , and be not thus fooled out of them . Away with all other Devices , All these Baal Beriths , these Idol , new-fangled Covenants ; Avant All , but the Covenant of Grace in Christ. And in the Ministration of It , what alterations at any Time are needful , doubt it not , but God is more mindful , then You ; and when He sees Time , that God ( that when need was , did put it into that way , that so long you had then forgotten , into the Heart of His Deputy the King , and of his Bishops at the Reformation , to do it : ) is the same God still , the God of his Church : And needs no Aerian Presbyters now , to lift up a lying Hand ▪ because God is asleep , to waken Him. No , God is awake in His Holy Temple , and howe're he seems to wink a while , yet they will find , that He sees through all , Et palpebrae ejus interrogant , Psal. 11. 5. His very Eye-lids try the Children of Men. Hold we onely therefore to this sure Covenant of God , that , in it self ( we are sure ) is Christ , and as to us , 't is with Christ , in Christ , and for Christ , and Christ ( to be sure ) will see well enough to it , without any of these new ( bold , and blind , ) Seers . Be we therefore All in All alone for Christ , for our Anointed Lord , and for the Lords Anointed , Taking Care for nothing else , but not to behave our selves perversely in this Covenant , no way to be froward and untoward to Him. Of all the rest , not to put such foul scorns upon Him , as if He needed our Lying , and could not well be God any longer , without our abominable Dissembling , which was the Badge that Christ put upon the old Pharisaisme , and is the very Soul of that new Scotish Covenant . [ Now God be merciful unto them all , that lie but within the Shadow of it . Amen . FINIS .