m & w 3-1- (^^y^WXW (0rrU#t&e 3jxnicanze. scs^W ir/"r ■^^JiM^k &&**»j Xh^ f /cWV / &c$*l5ff TESTIMONY TRUTHS OF CHRIST, AGREEABLY TO THE WESTMINSTER STANDARDS, AS RECEIVED BY THE REFORMED CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, OPPOSITION TO DEFECTIONS FROM THE REFORMATION SWORN TO IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND : TOGETHER WITH AN ACT FOR RENEWING THE COVENANTS, AND A FORMULA. AGREED TO BY THE SYNOD OF UNITED ORIGINAL SECEDERS. SIXTH EDITION. GLASGOW: PRINTED BY S. & T. DUNN, 14 PRINCE'S SQUARE. MDCCCXLIX. Edinburgh, 18th May, 1S27. In the Meeting-House, Infirmary Street, The Associate Synod of Original Segeders having met and been constituted, 5 taken at several meetings, the Synod came to a decision.* that, " Those of the secession cannot, with safety of con- science and without sin, swear any burgess-oath with the said religious clause, while matters with reference to the profession and settlement of religion continue in such cir- cumstances as at present." In the progress of the discus- sion, it appeared that, though the majority of ministers was in opposition to the oath, a minority respectable for its num- bers, but still more so from the names of some individuals who composed it, was arrayed in its defence. A protest was taken against the decision : the controversy was keenly agitated throughout the body; and, at a subsequent meet- ing of synod, j it was moved that the decision condemning the oath should not, now nor afterwards, be a term of mi- nisterial and Christian communion, until the question of its being so shall be referred to presbyteries and kirk-sessions. Repeated protests were taken against the putting of this motion, as disorderly, notwithstanding which it was put ? and (those who had protested against it not voting) carried ; upon which a declaration, subscribed by those who sup- ported the original decision, was read, protesting that, as that meeting had materially dropped the whole testimony, the lawful authority and power of the Associate Synod is devolved on a constituted meeting of those ministers and elders who had protested against the late vote, with such as should join them. Thus was the Synod divided into two separate and conflicting bodies, each of which asserted that it was the majority, and laid claim to the title and powers of the court. Those who defended the burgess-oath, passed an act nullifying the synod constituted by those who adhered to the decision condemning that oath ; and the latter pro- ceeded against the former, in a gradual course of discipline, to the highest censures of the church. The Synod, con- sisting of those who opposed the condemnation of the bur- gess-oath, professed to adhere to the public papers of the Associate Presbytery, though they appear to have restricted their approbation of them by alterations on their Formula; J and they desisted from the renewing of the Covenants, on the ground that the friends of that duty were divided in sentiment and communion. * In April, 1716. f In April, 1747. * Address of the Associate Synod in 1799, p. 7. 66 HISTORICAL PART This mournful breach affords a lesson to churches, when most honoured of God to be faithful, to " rejoice with trembling." It is difficult to believe that an ecclesiastical body, which had hitherto preserved such unanimity and concord in their deliberations and decisions upon a variety of questions, some of which were of a very delicate and complicated nature, could have divided on the subject of a burgess-oath, had not the leaven of prejudice and suspicion insinuated itself, soured their minds, and fomented any dif- ference of sentiment which at first existed among them. In reviewing this melancholy portion of the history of the Church, it is consolatory to reflect, that, previous to this breach the Associate Synod, or rather Presbytery, had been led to complete the statement of their public testimony in behalf of the various articles of truth which were imme- diately in danger, and in opposition to the existing errors and evils, in the different papers which they had judicially agreed on and published to the world. Had both parties continued to adhere to these, in their letter and spirit, it is probable that they could not have remained long in a state of separation, and that the influence of the principle, (whatever it was,) which had temporarily driven them asunder, must have soon yielded to the powerful attraction of common principles and a common bond. Impressed with these views and feelings, two of the reli- gious bodies which this question had hitherto kept asunder, judged it their duty to take the subject under their serious consideration. The Synod of Original Seceders, in their Testimony, published in 1827, after stating their reasons for continuing to approve of the decision condemning the swearing of the oath by seceders, suggested it as their opinion, that an arrangement might be made as to the subject of difference, which would be at once honourable to truth, and not hurtful to the conscience of any. This suggestion was readily and cordially met by the Synod of Original Burghers, and joint measures were, in conse- quence, adopted, with the view of ascertaining the practi- cability of such an arrangement. In concluding the nego- ciation, both parties proceeded on the principle, that desir- able as union is, if the reality of the thing is to be sought and not the appearance merely, this will be secured more effectually, and with more honour to truth, by candid ex- OF THE TESTIMONY. 67 planations on the points in question, than by studiously avoiding the agitation of them, a plan which, while it makes greater pretensions to charity and peace, lays a ground for subsequent irritation and dissension. In the course of explanation, it was found that the only difference of opinion between the two bodies related to the exact meaning and necessary application of certain terms in the oath, which, as the question originally came before the Secession Courts as a question of practice, did not ap- pear to be an insuperable obstacle to a Scriptural adjust- ment of the dispute. After repeated conferences, it was satisfactorily ascertained, that the members of both Synods were agreed on all points with the Judicial Testimony of the first Seceders, particularly in its approval of the profes- sion of religion made in this country, and authorised by the laws between 1638 and 1650, on the one hand; and in its disapproval of the defects in the settlement of religion made at the Revolution, on the other. Encouraged by this har- mony of sentiment as to the great cause of Reformation, so much forgotten and so keenly opposed from various quar- ters in the present time, and feeling deeply the solemn ob- ligations under which they in common lie to support and advance that cause ; and the burgess oath, the original ground of separation, being now, in the providence of God, abolished, and both parties having now, for various reasons, seen it to be their duty to refrain from swearing that oath, should it be re-enacted; the two Synods agreed to unite upon the following explanatory declarations and resolutions, calculated, in their judgment, to remove the bars in the way of harmonious fellowship and co-operation, and to prevent, through the blessing of God, the recurrence of any similar difference for the future. Explanatory Declarations. 1. That when the church of Christ is in danger from adversaries who hold persecuting principles, or who are employing violence or insidious arts to overturn it, the legis- lature of a country may warrantably exact an oath from those who are admitted to official and influential stations, calculated for the security of the true religion ; and that, in these circumstances, it is lawful and proper to swear it. 2. That no Christian, without committing sin, can on 68 HISTORICAL PART any consideration swear to maintain or defend any known or acknowledged corruption or defect in the profession or establishment of religion. 3. That a public oath can be taken only according to the declared and known sense of the legislature or enacting authority, and no person is warranted to swear it in a sense of his own, contrary to the former. 4. That no church court can warrantably give a judicial toleration or allowance to do what they declare to be sin- ful, or what there is sufficient evidence from the word of God is sinful. Resolution concerning Covenanting. That the renewing of our covenants in a bond suited to the times is a seasonable duty, and that means shall be used for having that solemn exercise performed throughout the united body. On procedure in Covenanting. 1 . The morality of public covenanting being taken for granted, and its seasonableness having been declared in a preceding article, we further declare, that agreeably to the Act of the Associate Presbytery 1743, and also to their Act in 1744, the renovation of our Covenants, National and Solemn League, shall be a term of Ministerial Communion in the United Body, and also of Christian Communion, so far as that none can be admitted, who are opposers, con- temners, or slighters of the duty. 2. That the union betwixt the two bodies shall be con- summated by such of the Ministers and Preachers -as have not already joined in covenanting, engaging in that duty, together with such students of Divinity as may offer them- selves; their brethren who have lately entered into the bond signifying their adherence, by holding up their hands after the others have sworn.* None shall subsequently be licenced to preach the Gospel in the Body, who have not joined in the bond, or at least given a solemn pledge to do so when an opportunity is offered. But, in this last case, * Agreeably to a subsequent arrangement, the union was consum- mated by the ministers and preachers of both Synods, together with the students of divinity, and a considerable number of ruling elders, engaging in covenanting. OF THE TESTIMONY. 69 it is understood that the Synod shall be consulted, and its consent obtained. 3. It is agreed that, according to an Act of the Associate Presbytery in 1744, concerning the order to be observed in covenanting, " the solemn acknowledgment of the public sins, and breaches of our Covenants, shall be publicly joined in and made, whereupon these covenants shall be publicly sworn and subscribed in the Bond, by all such as shall willingly offer themselves unto the Lord in this solemn work and duty ;" and " that none shall be admitted to swear and subscribe the Covenants but such as have a competent measure of knowledge, are free of all known scandal, and have a conversation becoming the Gospel ; as these only can make a credible profession of willingly offering them- selves unto the Lord." It is also agreed, that, while all proper means are used for stirring up and preparing the people in their respective congregations to engage in this important and seasonable duty, there should be no undue haste in those congregations where it has not been formerly practised. Ox Communion and Practical Religion. Deeply sensible of the importance of preserving the purity of church fellowship and of adopting such means as, by the Divine blessing, may be most calculated to promote the revival of religion in general among them, the Synods uniting declare, — 1. That, though it appears both Bodies have hitherto proceeded on the same general plan iu the admission of members into their communion, they are sensible that additional attention is due to this subject, and agree in earnestly recommending that greater care be taken by Minis- ters and Sessions, that all persons admitted to the enjoyment of sealing ordinances shall have made themselves acquainted with the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures, as exhibited in the "Westminster Confession of Faith, and vindicated in the Testimony of the Associate Body ; as well as that they maintain a becoming moral and religious character. 2. TThereas, in some parts of the Uniting Bodies, many individuals, without adverting, we are persuaded, to the injurious effects of the practice as tending to neutralize the influence of their testimony, and operating unfavourably on D 70 HISTORICAL TART the unity of the Church, have indulged in a habit of occa- sionally joining in public worship and hearing the word under ministers of the Gospel, and with religious bodies, from whom, though they hold much of the truth, we have scriptural grounds of separation ; — the Synod do earnestly recommend and urge greater strictness in this matter ; as believing it to be more conducive to edifying and consistent fellowship, more fitted to excite to serious efforts for the healing of existing divisions, and, therefore, more accordant with the spirit even of a true and enlarged charity, to refrain (until such differences shall have been adjusted on scriptural grounds) from everything that would imply a slight esti- mate of matters of difference, or incline to a resting con- tented with a partial, instead of a real and thorough union. 3. In addition to these resolutions tending to promote strictness of admission and purity of fellowship, the Synods uniting are strongly impressed with the duty, in coming together, of using all likely methods of furthering vital and practical godliness. They would seek the increased efficiency of religious ordinances, either by adopting the obsolete practice of Presbyterial Visitations, or if that shall be judged inexpedient, by substituting in its room some other means of encouraging Pastors, Elders, and private Chris- tians in their respective duties, and exciting and keeping alive a suitable interest in each other, and in the work of the Lord among their hands. They feel it will be important to exercise a vigilant care in exciting to the indispensable duty of family worship, and in urging parents to ply earnestly the work of domestic instruction. They will seek to call greater attention to the practice of personal and family fasting and thanksgiving, and to stimulate the for- mation and promote the increase of meetings for prayer and private fellowship. In fine, sensible of the necessity of divine influences to render their endeavours for these ends effectual, they would earnestly entreat the people under their inspection to join with them in seeking of the God of Zion an abundant effusion of the Holy Ghost, according to his promise. / If Ave have been more minute on this subject than some may think needful, it is not because we wish to magnify the difference, or to revive debates ; but because we think that, when a separation has taken place, has subsisted long, OF THE TESTIMONY. 71 and has produced a train of interesting consequences, the better way of removing it, both in point of duty and of safety, is by candid explications, with the view of pro- ducing mutual understanding; instead of having recourse to the easier and more plausible method of burying the whole subject of difference in silence, or wrapping it up in vague and ambiguous generalities, which, while it is neither honourable to truth nor edifying to the world, often conduces little, in the issue, to the harmony and comfort of the coalescing bodies. The Synod constituted in the way of testifying against those who had engaged in the defence of the burgess oath, went forward in the work of renewing the Covenants. Having taken into consideration some other oaths, they found that the clauses of general and unlimited allegiance in the constable-oath, and in some burgess-oaths, could not be consistently sworn by those who were testifying against existing evils in the laws of the land; and that they could not, with safety of conscience, take the oath of church-war- den in England and Ireland. They condemned the mason- oath, because it requires the swearer to engage to keep secret certain things before they were made known to him, and its administration is accompanied with a number of superstitious ceremonies ; and the chapman-oath, because it includes a similar bond of secrecy, and bears on articles which are trifling or impracticable. And they appointed sessions to require satisfaction from such of their members as involved themselves in these sinful and ensnaring oaths. — In consequence of an attempt to revive, in this country, the doctrine of universal redemption, in a somewhat new form, the Synod, in 1754, published an act against the Arminian error on this head.* The particular form which it then assumed has passed away; but the error itself has of late been gaining ground, and many who profess attach- ment to the doctrine of grace, and even of unconditional election, stumble at the doctrine of particular redemption, although it will be found intimately connected with the substitution of Christ, and the efficacy of his death. In the year 1795, there was laid before the Synod (which had now taken the name of the General Associate Synod) * This was occasioned by the publication of a Treatise on Justifying Faith, ascribed to Mr Fraser of Brae. 72 HISTORICAL PART an overture of a Narrative and Testimony, to supersede in practice the Judicial Testimony. After being occupied in its correction for a number of years, the Synod approved and enacted it as a term of ministerial and Christian com- munion, in the manner stated in their act relating to it ; * and, about the same time, they revised the Acknowledg- ment of Sins and Bond, and adapted them to the present state of their Testimony. These acts were opposed by several members of court, who allowed that the Narrative and Testimony contained, particularly in the doctrinal part of it, an assertion of many valuable and precious articles of truth, but objected to it as departing from the received doctrine on the connection between church and state, and the national character and obligation of our Covenants. Having on this ground protested against the adoption of these deeds, four of these brethren soon after formed them- selves into a presbytery, under the name of the Constitu- tional Associate Presbytery, j- We do not judge it necessary to enter farther into the dispute occasioned by the Narrative and Testimony, not only because the great body of those who formed the General Synod have dropped it, and ceased to exist as a separate society, but also because such members of the Synod as continued to adhere to that Testimony, under the name of the Associate Synod, and the members of the Con- stitutional Associate Presbytery, have in the good pro- vidence of God, come, by mutual explanations, to see eye to eye, and unanimously to agree to the following proposi- tions, which we consider as doing justice to the truth, on the several points which were brought into controversy. 1st, We agree in declaring, that the church of Christ is a spiritual, free, and independent kingdom, essentially distinct and different from secular kingdoms, in her origin, offices, laws, judicatories, formal objects, and special ends; and that she possesses from Jesus Christ, her sole King and Head, an intrinsic and unalienable power for all the purposes of her adminis- tration, not derived from, and not subordinate to, the powers of this world : More particularly, that Christ hath instituted a specific form of government in his * In 1804. t In 1806. OF THE TESTIMONY. church, to be exercised by such office-bearers as he hath appointed in his word, and that they have autho- rity from him to meet in his name, in smaller or larger judicatories, as often as the necessities and wel- fare of the church may require, and to regulate what- ever regards the affairs of the House of God, accord- ing to the laws of that house, without being subject to the direction or control of civil rulers, so long as they keep within the proper line of their office, and do not encroach on the peculiar business of secular govern- ment, nor abuse their power to the detriment of those interests which it has in charge. 2d, That Natural Religion, an acknowledgment of which lies at the foundation of all confidence and duty in human society, forms an important object of care and attention to nations and their rulers. Mankind in their national, no less than in their individual capacity, are dependent on God. As it is to him they owe their national existence and prosperity, they must be bound to acknowledge his supremacy, and to take such measures as are competent to them, that he be publicly honoured and served among them. The voice of nature conspires with that of revelation in pronouncing this to be the homage that pertaineth to the " King of Nations," who will not fail to resent the withholding of it on the u nations who call not on his name." It is a dictate of nature, that nations, as such, should do homage to him who ruleth among the nations. This is their interest as well as their duty, even in a temporal respect. Religion is not only of great advantage to society ; it is its firmest pillar. Civil government could not exist among men, and far less could it gain its secondary and higher ends in promoting the pub- lic good extensively, by mere external laws and force, without the aids of religion, and the secret but powerful operation of conscience. '3d, That, though civil government is founded not on re- vealed but natural principles, yet it is the duty of na- tions and their rulers, who are favoured with Revealed Religion, not only to embrace it, but to recognize and 74 HISTORICAL PART give public countenance to the profession of it, and by their laws and administration to provide, in every way competent to them, consistent with its nature and pe- culiar laws, and the just rights and liberties of rational agents, that its salutary influence have free course, and be diffused through all orders and departments of society. Human legislation and magistratical authority have not for their direct and immediate objects supernatural doc- trines and institutions, considered as such, but considered, in respect of the external profession and observance of them, and of the relation in which these stand to the in- terests of society. Accordingly, in the exercise of their legislative authority, it is the duty of nations or their representatives, to remove from their civil constitution whatever may be found to stand in the way of the progress of revealed religion, — to have the whole of their civil laws framed, and the whole of their administration regulated in such a manner as to be agreeable to it, and subservient to its interests, — to give decided countenance and public pro- tection to its functionaries in the discharge of their duty, and to provide all needful legal securities in behalf of the scriptural profession of it, not only against turbulent indi- viduals or factions, but also against the attempts to under- mine and supplant it, which may be made by the rulers to whom the administration of their affairs may be entrusted. But if nations may legislate in favour of revealed religion, it follows as a native inference, that it is competent to magistrates, in whom the executive power of the nation is lodged, to exercise that power by carrying the laws thus framed into execution. The doctrine now stated, while it is consistent with the principles of sound reason, runs in accordance with the stream of approved examples, precepts, and predictions relating to this subject, to be found in the Bible. It was the doctrine held in common by the Pro- testant Churches, and which is applied to the national re- formation and settlement of religion in our own land in the public papers of the Secession. In the Act, Declaration, and Testimony, the Associate Presbytery record and ap- prove of the legal securities given to the Protestant and Presbyterian religion in Scotland, both in the first and se- OF THE TESTIMONY. 70 eond periods of our reformation. And in their answers to Mr Nairn, they lay down the following proposition as the basis of their approval of our ancient civil reformation : — u As it was once a peculiar duty of the Jewish nation, so it is peculiarly incumbent upon every civil state whereinto Christianity is introduced, to study and bring to pass that civil government among them, in all the appurtenances of its constitution and administration, run in an agreeableness to the word of God, be subservient to the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ, and to the interests of the true religion and reformation of the church; as otherwise they cannot truly prosper in their civil concerns, nor be enriched by the bless- ings of the gospel. This people (add they), considered in their conjunct and political capacity (as thus only the mat- ter is competent to them), should, by their deed of civil constitution, provide that the magistrates be obliged to con- cur in the same true religion and reformation ; and to rule them by laws no way prejudicial but serviceable thereunto." 4th, That Church and State, though specifically distinct and different in their nature, and not to be confounded in the administration, are yet capable of being mutually helpful in the advancement of objects common to both. The powers and institutions which proceed from God according to the law of nature, through the medium of so- ciety, in his moral kingdom, and those that are appointed by him in his spiritual kingdom, according to the law of supernatural revelation, must have a friendly aspect towards each other, and when they coincide and co-operate, their mutual influence must be of the most happy and beneficial kind. It has been already stated in what sense religion forms an important object of concern to nations and their govern- ments, and it will be admitted by all, that public morals, although under a different consideration, is an object com- mon to both societies ; so that, when each casts in its in- fluence to promote that object, their co-operation must tend greatly to advance that " righteousness" which " ex- alteth a nation." This, however, is to be done by them distinctly, in a consistency with the nature of each, and in the way of pursuing their proper ends — without mixing or confounding their respective judicatories, subjecting the one 76 HISTORICAL PART to the other, or enforcing ecclesiastical censures by pun- ishment properly so called, such as fines and imprisonments. 5th, That the due exercise of civil authority about reli- gious matters, as above stated, does not lead to perse- cution for conscience sake, or to unjust and unnecessary restraint on the rights and liberties of men. To promote Christianity by forcible methods is a viola- tion of its nature. It can be productive of no good effects, either in a spiritual or political point of view : Not in a spiritual view, for force cannot reach the inward man : Not in a political point of view, for it is not the mere exterior form of religion, but the hold which it takes upon the heart, which chiefly strengthens, and really improves civil society and government. Nor is it merely useless ; it is productive of the most baneful effects, not only to indivi- duals, but to the church and to society at large, as the his- tory of the church abundantly shews. Penal laws against any religious party can only be vindicated on the principle that there is something in the sentiments, spirit, and con- duct of that party hostile to the general interests of society, or threatening the safety of other professors of religion, and the lawful institutions of a particular kingdom ; as is the case with regard to popery. On the same principles, it can- not be accounted persecution to restrain or punish the grosser violations of even the first tables of the divine law, such as blasphemy, profane swearing, and the open violation of the Sabbath by amusements or secular employments. 6th, That the doctrine respecting civil rulers contained in the Confessions of the Reformed Churches, and par- ticularly in the Westminster Confession, can be de- fended on the principles of Scripture and reason above stated. Whatever sense may be imposed on some ex- pressions in it, taken by themselves, yet, upon a fair and candid interpretation of the whole doctrine which it lays down upon the subject, the Westminster Con- fession will not be found justly chargeable with coun- tenancing persecution for conscience sake, with sub- jecting matters purely religious to the cognizance of the civil magistrate, or with allowing him a supremacy over the church, or any power in it. OF THE TESTIMONY. t I In the 4th section of the 20th chapter, after laying down the doctrine of liberty of conscience, the Confession pro- ceeds to guard it against abuse, first in reference to the authority of God in his law ; and, secondly, in reference to the authorities on earth, civil or ecclesiastical, On the last, it mentions certain things for which persons of a cer- tain description maybe proceeded against; but the Con- fession does not say, that, for these things, proceedings may be instituted against good and peaceable subjects, but against those who " oppose any lawful power, or the law- ful exercise of it," who " resist the ordinance of God ;" which plainly implies that the Confession, in this place, refers only to persons who are chargeable with faction and violence. The intention of this section is not to lay down the extent of the provinces of these powers, but only to remove the plea of conscience ; and it ought to be under- stood in consistency with their acting each in its own province, without the one interfering with the causes which come under the cognizance of the other. In the 3d section of the 23d chapter, the compilers men- tion certain matters connected with the church, and of a religious nature, about which it is the duty of the magis- trate (or government of a country) to employ his authority ; but this part of the Confession must be understood in a consistency with other parts of it, where the freedom and independence of the church upon the powers of this world are asserted and vindicated. The magistrate must not claim a lordly supremacy over the church : for " there is no head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ," (chap. xxv. sect. 6.) He must not interfere with her internal government : for " the Lord Jesus, as King and Head of his church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of church-officers, distinct from the civil magistrate ;" — and *' to these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed," (chap. xxx. sect. 1,2.) He must not, as a magistrate, sustain himself a public judge of true or false religion, so as to dictate to his subjects in matters of faith : for " it belongs to synods and councils ministerially to de- termine controversies of faith, and cases of conscience," (chap. xxxi. sect. 3.) Moreover, in the section now under review, the compilers of the Confession set out with de- claring, that the magistrate may not take upon himself the d2 78 HISTORICAL PART administration of the ordinances, or any part of the govern- ment, of the church : " The civil magistrate may not as- sume to himself the administration of the word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven." After these limitations and restrictions of the magistrate's power with regard to religious matters by the compilers of the Confession themselves, the authority which they assign to him in this section cannot be fairly interpreted as implying a lordly supremacy over the church, an official power in the church, or a right, by virtue of his office, to dictate to his subjects in matters purely religious. To understand this section, it may be proper farther to observe, that their object was to guard equally against Erastian and Sectarian principles. Accordingly, they set out with condemning Erastian principles, according to which the government and discipline of the church are devolved upon the civil magistrate, by declaring, that the magistrate may not take upon him either the ministerial dispensation of word and sacraments, or the judicial manage- ment of religious matters. But, although they deny him all ministerial or judicial power in the church, in opposition to Erastians, yet to guard against the other extreme, they assert, in opposition to the Sectarians of that age, that it is his duty to employ the influence of his high station and of- fice for the good of the church, and the advancement of the interests of pure and undefiled religion ; and, in doing so, he does not go beyond his proper sphere, as the advance- ment of religion in a country is the most effectual means of promoting the public good of society, as has been fully stated in the former propositions. Hence it is added, u Yet it is his duty, and he hath authority, to take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the church, " &c. These things they consider as peculiarly obligatory upon those at the head of a Christian community ; for it must always be kept in view, that they speak of the magistrate, not merely as a magistrate, but as a Christian magistrate, who is bound, as by the moral law, so also by his Christian voca- tion not only to regulate his private conduct, but to order the whole of his public administration so as to prove sub- servient to the interests of evangelical truth and holiness, and the advancement of the kingdom of Christ ; and it is by uniting the exertions of the pious Christian and the OF THE TESTIMONY. 79 enlightened magistrate, that he is to endeavour to have the ends here specified accomplished. With regard to the means which he is to employ for this purpose, they set out, as we have already seen, with declaring negatively that he must not attempt to effect these things himself ministerially or judicially. "He may not assume to himself the administration of the word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven;" yet they assert positively ; u that it is his duty, and he hath authority, to take order," that it may be done otherwise, and by persons to whom the cognizance of such business properly belongs, — not by subverting ecclesiastical authority, but by endeavouring to bring it into free and legitimate operation, after the exercise of it has been in a great measure suspended, — not by taking the doing of ecclesiastical business into his own hands, but by taking order that it be done by rightly constituted ecclesiastical courts. Hence it is added in the end of the section, t: For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods," &c. This is the only means specified by the compilers, and considered by them as the most effectual ; but the phrase, ; ' for the belter effecting whereof," obviously supposes that there are other means competent to him from which he is not precluded. To remove all difficulties as to the nature and extent of these, it may be necessary to remark, 1st, That they are to be limited by the negative assertion men- tioned above, viz. That he is not to interfere, either minis- terially or judicially, in the internal affairs of the Church; '2dly, With this limitation, the Christian magistrate may, nevertheless, in a number of particulars, bring the influence and authority of his station to bear directly upon the objects specified. First, As a pious Christian, he may pro- mote these ends more effectually than others, by advice and example, as his advice and example are calculated to have more weight, owing to the high station which he fills in society ; and, secondly. As an enlightened and patriotic magistrate, he may contribute to the same ends, in a variety of ways, as we have already seen (art. 3.) in the due exer- cise of his official authority, " by recognising and giving public countenance to the profession of true religion, — by removing from the civil constitution of the country, what- ever may be found to stand in the way of its progress, — by 80 HISTORICAL PART endeavouring in every way competent to him, and consistent with its peculiar nature and laws, that its salutary influence have free course, and be diffused through all orders and departments of society," &c. All this may be done without encroaching upon the proper business of the Church, or violating the rights of conscience. It is necessary, however, to remark, that, so far as any of the things mentioned in this section may be justly viewed as civil crimes, or gross violations of the moral law, the magistrate cannot be viewed as precluded from exercising his coercive authority for their suppression, as stated in the preceding article. To return to the means specified in the section, and con- sidered by the compilers as the most effectual, viz. bringing the matters specified under the cognizance of church-courts, — they allow him, for this purpose, " power to call synods," &c. With regard to this power, which has given rise to much discussion, we may observe, 1st, That they could not understand by it, a power lodged in him by virtue of any supposed supremacy over the Church, after the explicit manner in which they elsewhere assert the sole Headship of Christ over her as his independent kingdom, — or by virtue of any official character in her, after declaring, that the Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate. His calling synods must then be viewed by them, not as an ecclesiastical ordinance in the Church, but merely as a moral means to excite, and bring forward her office-bearers in the discharge of their duty ; 2dly, That the doctrine of the Confession on this head, both here and in the 31st chapter, has always been received by the Secession Church, and continues to be received by us, as explained by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in their act 1647, approving of said Confession, in which they declare, that " his calling Synods, without any other call, is to be understood of kirks not settled or constituted in point of government, and not to the prejudice of the intrinsic power, of the church received from Christ, to call her own assemblies." With respect to the last clause, where a right is conceded to him, " to provide that what is transacted in them be ac- cording to the mind of God;" it may be observed, that it cannot mean, consistently with the doctrine of the Confes- OF THE TESTIMONY. SI sion itself, that the magistrate, acting as sueli. is directly to provide what the decisions of Synods shall be ; for this would amount to sustaining himself an official judge in matters properly religious, would be inconsistent with his calling of them ministerially to judge and determine in these matters, and would amount to a very glaring assumption of the power of " the keys."' We shall only farther add. that, to assert that the Church has not an intrinsic right to call her own assemblies, — that the civil magistrate has a right to do this in ordinary cases, or that he has a right to do it in any case, by virtue of a pretended supremacy over the Church, and in matters ecclesiastical. — that his presence is necessary to give validity to their proceedings, — that he sits as a proses or director of the deliberations and votes, — that he has aright to prescribe or dictate to them what their decisions shall be, — or that, after they have deliberated and decided, he may receive appeals from their judgment, and review, alter, or reverse their sentences, — to assert any or all of these things, is to assert what is not only without countenance from the words of the Confession, but contrary to its express declarations, and utterly inconsistent with the common principles of Presbyterians, and, in particular, with the well-known principles and contendings of the Church of Scotland, and the explicit declarations which she made in her act approving of the Westminster Confession. 7th, That vowing being founded in the moral law, and resultingfrom God's supremacy and man's dependence, is a duty, both singly and socially, in all periods of time, and under every religious dispensation; and that religious covenants and oaths, in which persons bind themselves to God, and solemnly confederate among themselves, in the cause of religion in general, or as to any thing connected with its interests, having the same origin and warrants, and being moral-natural, and not positive institutions, are capable of various modifications, and cannot be restricted to men merely in the character of church members. The moral law cannot be confined to men as members of the church ; and moral obligations may be contracted by them in their various capacities, as subjects of the moral 0Z HISTORICAL PART government of God. No duties, moral or religious, can be acceptably performed, but by those who are savingly ac- quainted with the gospel, and instated in the covenant of grace ; but this must not be confounded with their warrant or obligation, and does not narrow either the one or the other. Such vows to God, and confederations with one another, may relate to the intrinsic concerns of the church, or they may be extended to the external state and interest of nations, in reference to religion. Those covenants may be properly termed religious, in which there is not only a vow to God, but in whose matter or ends religion is the main thing, though other things may be introduced as con- nected with, and subordinate to it ; as was the case in the Solemn League and Covenant of Britain. A nation may enter into such a vow or covenant in its religious character, the public authorities, ecclesiastical and civil, concurring to promote it, and the rest of the people cleaving to them, and entering into the oath. Besides this case, we are plainly to be understood as maintaining, that the national will, however expressed in the way of engage- ment agreeably to the divine law, even when the rulers are not concurring, brings its members under covenant obli- gation. This, however, is not to be understood to the pre- judice of that covenanting which is strictly ecclesiastical. Vowing and swearing to God is a religious exercise pecu- liarly suited to the Church, and which may be, and often has been, an eminent means of reviving religion, of esta- blishing Christians in the present truth, and cementing the different parts of an ecclesiastical body in their adherence to their common profession in times of great temptation and danger. This may be done in countries where there never was national covenanting ; and where national covenants have been entered into, although the great body of the na- tion, including its rulers, may have renounced the obligation of them, or may refuse to perform their stipulations, it is law- ful for a minority, or a smaller number, in an ecclesiastical capacity to renew these solemn deeds, by publicly avouch- ing their continued obligation, and engaging to promote the ends of them according to their opportunity, and agreeably to the circumstances in which they are placed ; " for there is a great difference between the renewing of national cove- nants, and a national renewing of them." In this case, the OF THE TESTIMONY. 83 bond entered into should be merely a Church-bond, framed by her supreme judicatories, and entered into only by persons in her religious fellowship. These are not to be viewed as mere general principles, founded in reason and revelation, but as bearing directly upon the cause of the Secession. One main design of the religious association formed by the ministers and people who seceded from the National Church of Scotland, was to assert and vindicate, and, by all means competent to them, to revive that religious reformation which had been happily attained in this land, agreeably to the word of God, ratified by sacred covenants, and secured by laws, both ecclesiastical and civil. Accordingly, in their Testimony, and other judicial papers, declaratory of their principles and views, they not only approve of the Westminster For- mularies, as standards of uniformity for the three nations, and of what the judicatories of the Church did in the way of reforming and settling religion, but also of what was done by the public authorities of the State, especially in Scotland, in carrying on a civil Reformation, in connexion with, and subserviency to, the ecclesiastical, particularly by settling the civil constitution of this country on a reformed footing; " which deed of constitution (say they) in all moral respects is morally unalterable, because of its agreeableness to the Divine will, revealed in the word, and because it was attained and fixed in pursuance of our Solemn Covenants." At the same time, their approbation of what was done during the period of reformation was limited, and they never pledged themselves by approving all the acts or proceedings either of the State or of the Church at that time. So far as it can be shewn that any acts of the Church encroached on due Christian liberty, or that any acts of the State subjected good and peaceable subjects to punishment for matters purely religious, the principles of Seceders do not permit them to justify their conduct. The founders of the Secession did not bring forward any new or peculiar principles, but .declared their cordial adherence to those of the Reformed Church of Scotland, as stated from the word of God, in her subordinate standards, by which they were willing that all differences between them and the judicatories of the National Church should be determined. Their object was not to destroy or 81 HISTORICAL PART overturn that Church, but to correct the evils which had defaced her beauty, and impaired her vigour; and they declared their readiness to return to her communion, as soon as the grievances of which they complained were redressed. In one word, they appeared as a part of the Church of Scotland, adhering to her reformed constitution, testifying against the injuries done to it, and the corrupt administration to which these had led, craving the redress of these, and pleading for the revival of a reformation, attained conformably to Scripture in a former period, ap- proved of by every authority in the land, and sanctioned by public and national vows to the Most High. It is not to be wondered at, that attempts should have been made for healing the breach which was early caused in the associate body, by the controversy respecting the burgess-oath. In consequence of numerous petitions from congregations in their respective communions, the Associate Synod and General Associate Synod, in the year 1819, appointed committees, who jointly drew up a Basis of Union, which, after some corrections, was adopted by the two courts, who thereupon coalesced into one body, in the course of the following year. This Basis was protested against by a number of ministers belonging to the General Associate Synod, nine of whom afterwards joined in form- ing a court under the name of the Associate Synod. When the motion for this union commenced, it was hailed by many as the dawn of a happy day, and as pro- mising to unite not only the two larger societies, but also the smaller sections into which the secession body had been split; and had it been gone about with deliberation, and conducted on proper principles, these pleasing hopes might have been realized. But though anxious for union, and deeply convinced that it is of the greatest consequence to the real prosperity of the secession, and the advancement of the interests of religion in this land, we cannot conceal our conviction that, by adopting the Basis referred to, the uniting body abandoned the ground occupied by the first seceders, and consequently the ground occupied by the Church of Scotland in reforming times. 1. The Basis is not laid on an adherence to the Cove- nanted Reformation, and Reformed Principles of the OF THE TESTIMONY. 85 Church of Scotland. In seceding from the established judicatories, our fathers, as we have seen, espoused that cause ; declared their adherence to the Westminster Stand- ards as parts of the uniformity in religion for the three na- tions; declared the obligation which all ranks in them were under to adhere to these by the oath of God ; testified against several important defects in the Revolution-settle- ment of religion ; and traced the recent corruptions of which they complained to a progressive departure from the purity attained in the second period of reformation. The United Synod, on the contrary, proceeds, in the Basis, on the supposition that the Revolution-settlement was fault- less : agreeably to it, they receive the Westminster Con- fession and Catechisms, not as subordinate standards for uniformity for the three nations, but merely, (to use their own words), " as the confession of our faith, expressive of the sense in which we understand the Holy Scriptures ; " they exclude entirely from their Basis the Propositions con- cerning church government, and the Directory for public worship, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly ; and they merely recognize presbytery as the only form of government which they acknowledge as founded upon the Word of God, although the first seceders, in their Testi- mony, condemned the church at the Revolution for not asserting expressly the divine right of the presbyterian go- vernment. Besides, the exception which they make to the Confession and Catechisms, is expressed in such a manner as to give countenance to an unwarranted stigma on these standards, as teaching persecuting principles ; and as it was well known that this was highly offensive to not a few, by agreeing to it, they, on the matter, perpetuated two divisions in attempting to heal one. 2. The testimony to the continued obligation of the National Covenant, and the Solemn League, is dropped. These deeds are not so much as named in the Basis. When the United Synod approve of the " method adopted by our reforming ancestors, for mutual excitement and encouragement, by solemn confederation and vows to God," this never can be considered as a recognition of the pre- sent and continued obligations of our National Covenants; and still less can we regard, in this light, the following declaration, including all they say on the subject : — " We 86 HISTORICAL PART acknowledge that we are under high obligations to main- tain and promote the work of reformation begun, and to a great extent carried on by them." 3. Though the morality of public religious covenanting is admitted by the Basis, yet the present seasonableness of it is not asserted; any provision made for the practice of it is totally irreconcilable with presbyterian principles, being adapted only to covenanting on the plan of the Congrega- tionalists or Independents, and not for confirming the common profession of the United Body ; and in the bond transmitted by the General Synod, and registered by the United Synod, to be taken by those who choose, all idea of the renovation of the Covenants of our ancestors is set aside, and the recognition of their obligation, formerly made, is expunged. 4. By adopting the Basis, any testimony which had been formerly borne against sinful oaths, and other practical evils, inconsistent with pure religion, and a scriptural and consistent profession of it, was dropped ; and all barriers against the practice of what is called free communion, which has become so general and fashionable, are removed. 5. With respect to the burgess-oath, we have already expressed our views, and candidly stated what we judge the best way of accommodating the difference which it oc- casioned in the Associate Body. Of the method adopted for this purpose, in the Basis, we shall only say, that while, on the one hand, by making no provision for preventing the swearing of an oath which has all along been viewed as sinful by one-half of the Secession, it tends to bring all contending^ against public evils, and for purity of com- munion, into discredit with the generation; so, on the other hand, by providing that all in the United Body " shall carefully abstain from agitating the questions which occasioned " the breach, it restrains ministerial and Chris- tian liberty in testifying against sin ; and, on the matter, absolves the ministers and elders of one of the synods from an express article in their ordination-vows. It is painful to us to have to state these things with re- spect to brethren who still profess a regard to the Reforma- tion begun and carried on by our ancestors ; but impar- tiality, as well as regard to a cause which both they and we are under manifold obligations to support, require this OF THE TESTIMONY. 87 plainness. Nothing will give us greater satisfaction than to find these grounds of complaint removed by their future proceedings; but when we consider that, on more than one account, they must have been disposed to employ, as much as possible, the language of former declarations, the distressing conviction is forced on our mind, that the great body of seceders are alienated, to a degree which we could scarcely have anticipated, from the principles solemnly avouched by their father?. Sect. X. — Progress of public evils from the beginning of the Secession to the present time. Fkom the time at which the Secession from the Esta- blished Church of Scotland took place, our national defec- tion has proceeded farther, and many things have occurred in the proceedings of both Church and State, and in the conduct of the nation at large, which afford just grounds for complaint and humiliation. The following things may be specified in the proceedings of the Established Church. 1. The National Church, instead of being reclaimed, was irritated by the public testimony lifted up against her defections. The General Assembly ordered a libel to be drawn up against the seceding ministers ; and, although the latter declined their authority, as no longer a right constituted court of Christ, yet the Assembly proceeded to depose them from their ministerial office. At the same time that the Assembly declared those who were contending for the reformed constitution and principles of the Church of Scotland worthy of the highest censures, they removed the sentence of deposition which had some years before been pronounced on Mr John Glass, and restored him to the office of the ministry, although he had long been em- ployed in inveighing against national churches, national covenants, and the reformation of Britain, as attempts to revive a Jewish theocracy, and inconsistent with the spirituality and heavenly nature of the kingdom of Christ ; and was an enemy to confessions of faith and presbyterian church government. A few ministers and a considerable number of people joined those who had made an open appearance in behalf 88 HISTORICAL PART of injured truth, and the liberty wherewith Christ had made his people free ; but the greater part, even of those who had formerly acted with them, declined the call, and " abode in their breaches." The consequence was, that they soon began to extenuate some of those evils which they had been among the loudest in condemning, and became gradually indifferent and disaifected to that refor- mation which they had once regarded as the glory of the Church of Scotland. What contributed in no small degree to this remarkable change of sentiment, was the counte- nance given to the public ministrations of Mr Whitfield, a clergyman of the Church of England, who professed an indifference to all forms of church government, and modes of public worship, and sought, under the pretext of catholic love, to unite Christians of all parties, in such a way as was subversive of any testimony against errors or public evils. From this period we are to date the adoption of that mode of thinking, which has since prevailed so generally among the serious portion of the Established Church of Scotland, and which, by limiting their regards to what immediately concerns personal religion, has paralyzed their exertions in resisting the progress of error and public- corruptions within her pale, and threatened their utter extinction, as a party arrayed in opposition to those who have so long maintained the ascendant in her judicatories; until of late that symptoms of a different and better spirit have begun to manifest themselves. When such was the disposition of the better part of the church, we need not wonder to find her delegates at a later period disclaiming the supposition, "that the members of the Church of Scot- land may not conscientiously communicate occasionally with the Church of England."* 2. The judicatories of the Established Church have per- severed in their oppressive measures for enforcing the law of patronage. An active concurrence in violent settlements has been made a term of ministerial communion, and de- clining to countenance them a ground of church-censure ; as in the cases of the settlement of Torphichen,| of Inver- keithing, J and of Nigg. § * Address of the Committee of the General Assembly to the House of Commons concerning the Sacramental Test in \79iK t In 1750. t In 1752. § In 17 m. OF THE TESTIMONY. 89 The procedure of the Assembly in the second of these instances led to another separation. Mr Thomas Gillespie, some time after he was deposed for declining to take part in intruding a presentee on a reclaiming congregation, joined with another minister in forming the Presbyteiy of Relief which has since drawn numbers from the Establish- ment. This society, as its name imports, proposed it as their main object, to provide relief for those who were ag- grieved with the operation of the law of patronage. They shewed no disposition to inquire into, or seek the correc- tion of other evils affecting the public interests of religion : were indifferent or hostile to the covenanted reformation of a former period, and disposed to favour a mixed communion, ministerial and Christian, with all who are not unsound in what are called the essentials of Christianity. This new breach did not put a stop to the harsh measures of the ruling party in the Established Church. The mo- deration of calls was reduced to a mere form and piece of solemn mockery : it was repeatedly determined by the As- sembly that no candidate should be put on the leet but the presentee;* calls were sustained without the subscription of a single person resident in the parish ;f settlements have been ordered and carried through, in cases where the calls remained mere blanks;! and an armed force has been employed to accomplish the induction of a presentee, who was approved of by a committee appointed by the General Assembly to examine him after a Presbytery had twice found him unqualified. § At last the Assembly agreed to drop the annual instruction which they had given to their Commission to embrace any favourable opportunity of ap- plying to the legislature for having the grievance of patron- age removed; and came to the resolution, "That there does not appear to be any reason for making any innovation in the mode of settling vacant parishes." || The opposition long regularly made to patronage in the judicatories gra- dually died away; the people either left the communion of the Established Church, or succumbed to the yoke; and the public-spirited exertions of former times have dwindled * In 1749. t In the case of the parish of Glendivan, in 1770. i: In the cases of Bigrjar in 1730, and of Fenwick in 1781. § In the case of the parish of Shotts. In 1 784. 90 HISTORICAL PART into attempts to flatter patrons into a popular exercise of their power, or to purchase, "with a great sum," that free- dom which our fathers claimed as a right belonging to them as "free born." Before the judicatories could accom- plish their object, they found it necessary to relax their over-strained authority, by opening houses of relief within their own pale, for those who suffered under their oppres- sion. Chapels of Ease are an excrescence on a presbyterian church, symptomatic of the unsound state of the body which they disfigure. In most cases they have no session, or one dependent on the kirk-session of the parish to which they belong: and their ministers, though ordained to the cure of souls, are denied the exercise of discipline, and a right to sit in the church-courts. 3. Error has continued to spread, and received great encouragement, in several instances, from the church-courts. We shall give only two instances of this. Mr Ferguson, minister of Kilwinning, had attacked the doctrines of origi- nal sin, and the satisfaction of Christ, avowed his approba- tion of the writings of a noted Socinian, and ridiculed the use of Confessions of Faith. In consequence of a private individual having offered himself as a prosecutor, the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr found it necessary to take up the cause, which they dismissed, without inflicting the slightest censure, in the way of resting on a report of something which Mr Ferguson had said to a committee of his own presbytery, which had befriended him from the beginning. But the most glaring instance of unfaithfulness occurred in the case of Dr. Macgill, minister of Ayr, who had taught publicly,* almost all the errors of Socinianism, either in an avowed or more disguised shape, — had made reason the judge of the supernatural mysteries of religion, — represented Christ as a person of our own order, — treated his priestly office, and his offering himself a sacrifice for sins, as metaphorical, — denied the necessity and reality of the atonement made by his death, — held forth man's obedience as more precious and acceptable to God than Christ's blood, — and taught that repentance is the proper atone- ment for past transgressions, and faith and sincere obe- dience the foundation of the hope of future happiness. * In an Essay on the Death of Christ, published in 178G. OF THE TESTIMONY. 91 Gross and glaring as was this attack upon all that is valu- able in the gospel, aggravated by the consideration that it proceeded from one who had professed and avowed adhe- rence to the opposite doctrines, yet two years elapsed before the author was called to account, and it is painful to relate the issue of the process, which was chiefly managed by those deemed the most orthodox, and during which several members of court avowed that they were much of the same sentiments with the accused person. It was terminated by the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, in 1790, without the slightest censure, and without the retraction of any error. Dr. Macgill was persuaded to give in an apology of the following tenor: — " That there are in his publication ideas which may appear improper, and modes of expression, with respect to some things, ambiguous and unguarded, which he disclaims, and for which he is heartily sorry." With this, accompanied with a declaration of his submitting to the Confession of Faith, as the authorised interpreter of Scripture, the Synod declared their satisfaction. A number of serious people, offended at the issue to which the cause had been brought, presented another libel against him ; but the Assembly, when the affair came before them, refused it a hearing. — Some other publications of the same strain, by ministers of the Established Church,* appeared about that time; but after the result of the late prosecutions, especially the last, it was looked on as a hopeless task, to procure the conviction of a heretical teacher before the established judicatories. So bold and confident did the patrons of error become, that they were determined to make an effort to be released from subscription to a Confession of Faith, an attempt which had already been tried by their friends in the Church of England.f But, in the mean time, the French Revolu- tion broke out; the security of all existing establishments, religious as well as civil, was threatened; and, from this time forth, the proposal to abolish subscription was no more heard of; it became fashionable to speak with respect of established standards; and care was generally taken not to contradict them openly from the pulpit or the press. But, * Including Dr. Dalrymple, another of the ministers of Ayr. t See Sir H. Moncrieff's Life of Dr. Erskine. 92 . . HISTORICAL PART considering the extent to which heresy had palpably in- fected the minds of the public teachers, it is not to be sup- posed that the evil could be expelled, though its virulence might be checked by external causes. Demonstrations have been given, from time to time, that Socinianism has still its disciples within the church ; Arminian tenets are openly taught; the doctrine of a new law purchased by Christ, which requires faith, repentance, and sincere obedience, or faith and repentance only, as the ground and condition of a sinner's acceptance with God, is too commonly taught ; and many who profess to believe the peculiar doctrines of Christianity laid down in the confessions of the reformed churches, view them merely in the light of philosophical theories in religion, about which good men differ, which have little or no influence on the heart and practice, and which should be sparingly, if at all, brought forward in the pulpit; — an opinion which has had the most pernicious influence upon the strain, or rather the spirit, of public preaching; for it is hard to say which is most criminal, — to poison the souls of the people by error, or to starve them, by keeping back the food of their souls, and suffering them to perish for lack of knowledge. 4. To these evils we have to add the general neglect of discipline by the church courts. From many instances it has appeared, that it is nearly as difficult to procure a con- viction for immorality as for error. No due care is taken to separate between the precious and the vile in the admis- sion to the seals of the Covenant of Grace, and particularly that of Baptism. Public discipline is almost totally laid aside; and, with respect to the only vice, which, in some places becomes the object of cognizance, glaring partiality is often shewn to the man with the gold ring. While they have allowed the internal discipline of the church to fall into desuetude, the judicatories have not been jealous in guarding their rights against invasion from without. The General Assembly has long yielded up to the government the sole appointment of national fasts and thanksgivings, and left to it the power of judging both as to the seasons and the causes of these religious and solemn acts; in con- sequence of which, they have generally been subordinated to political purposes and views. In addition to the corruptions in the Established Church, OF THE TESTIMONY. 93 we have to lament, that the nation at large, and the government in particular, have involved themselves still farther in defection from the purity of reformation. The corruptions both of prelacy and popery have of late received great countenance. — By the incorporating union between Great Britain and Ireland, formed at the begin- ning of this century, the consent of Scotland was a second time given, by her representatives, to the perpetual estab- lishment of Episcopacy. In all our colonies and foreign settlements, too, an episcopal establishment has now been set up, which, besides its contrariety in many things to the word of God, is singularly unadapted, by its secular cha- racter and cumbrous appendages, to the work of evangel- izing a heathen country, or of instructing a race of people whom Britain has so long unrighteously retained under slavery, degradation, and ignorance. — Public countenance has also been given, in various ways, to the Church of Rome, notwithstanding all that we have suffered from it, and all our vows, protestations and contendings against it. In the war which lately raged so long on the Continent, and in the maintaining of which she took so active a part, Britain was involved in measures which tended directly to support the antichristian interest, and to revive and re- establish it in countries where it had been overthrown or weakened. In the territories which were permanently ceded to us by the peace, and in which popery is the re- ceived religion, the authorities appointed by this country have given the most open and decided countenance to some of its grossest corruptions. These measures, together with the apathy which has seized the minds of British protes- tants, and the alienation of many of them from the most important principles of the Reformation, have emboldened the adherents of the Romish religion in this country. Not contented with the freedom which they had obtained from all restraints on the public exercise of their religion, they have clamorously and pertinaciously demanded the right of admission to the highest offices of the state ; and, although their well-known and unalterable principles, to- gether with their conduct on many occasions, shew that the affairs of a Protestant nation cannot be safely entrusted to them, yet their claims have met with a support from Parliament, which was denied to the modest petitions of E 94 HISTORICAL PART some of the most conscientious protestants for relief from the iniquitous sacramental test. The national sin, in this matter, has been highly aggravated by the conduct of the generality of presbyterians and protestant dissenters, who have either pleaded in behalf of the Roman Catholic claims, or supinely and silently acquiesced in their justice. While we testify against the growth and encouragement of popery and prelacy, we have to lament that there has been a great departure from reformation principles, in con- sequence of many turning to the opposite extreme. Con- gregations formed on the Independent model, including those which reject infant baptism, are now to be found in all parts of our land. Their number was greatly increased at a time when the public mind was in a state of high effervescence, by a few individuals who proposed at first, by means of itinerancies and lay-preaching, to convey the knowledge of the gospel to the unenlightened parts of the country, and who afterwards set up tabernacles in the principal towns, which ultimately settled into Independent congregations. Among the most of them the doctrine of grace is retained, and they profess more than ordinary strictness of communion ; but their rejection of tests of orthodoxy, together with their mode of discipline, proves an inlet to divers and strange doctrines, and has actually unhinged the minds of not a few. Independency is in it- self inconsistent with the visible unity and peace of the church, and must preclude, where it is rigidly acted upon, all general and combined efforts for extending the king- dom of Christ, maintaining the purity of religion in a land, or recovering it from the corruptions by which the profes- sion of it may have been depraved. Among the other sects which have come among us from England are the Quakers, who are now to be regarded chiefly in the light of a quiet secular society ; and the Methodists, who have embraced the leading errors of Arminianism, and whose internal regimen is as strongly marked by human policy as their external worship is with enthusiasm. Of late years congregations, under the name of Unitarian, have been erected in our chief towns, for the dissemination of the dangerous and soul-ruining errors of Socinianism and uni- versal restoration. Wherever we turn our eye in surveying the present state OF THE TESTIMONY. 95 of religion on the Continent, we see reasons for deep regret and lamentation. The deadly wound which Antichrist had lately received has been healed ; the popish religion has been restored in all those countries where its power had for a time been taken away, and many individuals, panic-struck with the horrors and impiety which accom- panied the French Revolution, or willing to secure the favour of the restored governments, have deserted the protestant standard, and retired within the pale of the church calling herself catholic and infallible. The state of all the protestant churches is truly melancholy. The reformed church of Holland, which, after being refined by the Arminian controversy, continued long to resist the innova- tions by which those around her were corrupted, now maintains the standard of a dubious orthodoxy, with an arm palsied by deep decay in vital Christianity. The Churches of Switzerland, including Geneva, have been overrun by Arian and Pelagian errors, accompanied with a spirit of persecution against all who are disposed to testify against notorious departures from the ancient faith. The same errors have also seized on the reformed Church of France, which has not been purified by the severe process of refining, through which Providence has made it to pass, and out of which it was so wonderfully brought. The Protes- tant Churches of Germany have passed through the inter- mediate stages of Arminianism, Arianism, and Socinianism, until they have settled in a species of refined Deism and thinly-veiled Infidelity. The canon of Scripture has been unsettled, its inspiration denied, its mysteries ridiculed, and its miracles turned into fables, by those who were entrusted with the education of candidates for the ministry. We have reason to bless God that matters are far from being so bad in Britain ; but we have need to take warning, lest we fall after the same example of unbelief. Infidelity has long prevailed in our land, and after corrupting our literature, and poisoning the minds of the higher and better educated classes, has, of late, descended to the lower orders, and broken out in the most indecent and blasphemous attacks against Christianity, and all the principles of religion. In England, Arianism has given place to Socinianism, which has overthrown the faith of a large proportion of the Protestant dissenters, belonging to the Presbyterian, 96 HISTORICAL PART Independent, and Baptist persuasions ; although it is pleasing to us to have to record that by many of these the doctrines of the Gospel are still maintained in purity. We are not ignorant, and we rejoice to think, that, of late years, there has been a visible increase in the number of evangelical ministers in the Established Churches of this country ; and that this has contributed to awaken a concern about religion in the minds of many, especially of the higher ranks. Our hope and prayer is, that this may not only continue, but increase more and more, and that it may be a means of " provoking to love and good works " those who have long made a distinguished profession of regard to the doctrines of the gospel, and of recovering them from that deadness in respect of practical religion under which many of them have fallen. Zealous exertions have also been made for disseminating the knowledge of Christianity at home and abroad, circulating the Scriptures, and promoting the religious instruction of youth. But such tokens for good ought not to betray us into indifference about corruptions deeply and permanently affecting the interests of religion, which are patronized by many who take an active part in these benevolent schemes ; nor are we permitted to retract or practically contradict our testi- mony against public evils, for the sake of doing good, or what we may reckon more extensive good. Laudable as the object of the Missionary Societies is, we think it can scarcely be denied, that, though secular and self-constituted associations, all of them, in one way or other, assume the power which properly belongs to churches organized and acting in the name of the Lord Jesus. With respect to those which are composed of persons of different denomina- tions, although sensible that a union among all the friends of Christianity is exceedingly desirable for this as well as other purposes, yet we cannot conceal our conviction, that their present divided state, as to sentiment and communion, prevents them from co-operating consistently and efficiently. Such societies must either run the risk of their missionaries disagreeing in the doctrine which they teach, and in the public worship and church-order which they set up ; or they must send them out with instructions, and under engagements, tacit or expressed, that they shall abstain from and avoid all those points about which OF THE TESTIMONY. 9 / those who mission them may differ. The former would be discreditable and ruinous to a Christian mission ; and does not the latter imply, either that there is no conscien- tious ground for keeping up a separate communion at home, or else that it is lawful to dispense with the injunc- tion of "teaching" men "to observe all things whatsoever" Christ "hath commanded?" Nothing characterizes the present age more than the extensive spread of the latitudinarian principle, which limits the attention of Christians to a few plain, leading, and general articles in religion, termed essential or fundamental, and represents every thing else as unimportant, or, at least, as what ought not to regulate or affect church-communion. Though this scheme of religion makes great pretensions to liberality, we cannot but regard it as narrow and contracted, whether it be viewed in connection with the glory of God, or the best interests of mankind ; but it is of more impor- tance to point out its dangerous tendency to set aside divine authority, and gradually to weaken and subvert Christianity. "While some plead that the differences be- tween Presbyterians, Independents, and Episcopalians, are unimportant, others extend the plea to the differences between those who practise and those who reject infant baptism, between Calvinists and Arminians, between Papists and Protestants. Even in the more modified form in which it is commonly held in the present day, it encourages persons to make a compliment of one article of truth after another, and to remain indifferent spectators of the gradual encroachments made by error and corruption, provided only they do not directly attack the foundations of religion. On this, as well as the other grounds which have been brought forward, we judge it necessary, in the following part of our Testimony, to be more particular in specifying the different articles of truth, confronting the doctrines of our Confession of Faith with the opposite errors which are prevailing, and giving a more explicit statement of some of them, which are only generally stated in the Confession, because they were opposed by few at the time when that standard was composed. And, in doing this, we shall subjoin to each article the principal Scripture-grounds on which it rests, for confirming the faith of the friends of truth, and convincing gainsayers. PART II. DOCTRINAL PART OF THE TESTIMONY. CHAPTER I. OF NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. I. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. i. sect. 1, and in opposition to those who deny the existence of natural religion, and maintain that all the knowledge mankind have .of the existence of God, and moral obliga- tion, is derived from supernatural revelation, — we de- clare, That the law of nature in man, and the works of creation and providence, without the aid of supernatural reve- lation, shew that there is a God, whose kingdom ruleth over all, and so far manifest his wisdom, power, and goodness, as to leave all men inexcusable. In proof of the above statement, we would observe, That the Scriptures take for granted the first principles of natu- ral religion, and, instead of first proving the existence of God, begin with telling us what God did: 1 That they frequently appeal to these natural principles in support of their doctrines respecting the Deity: 2 That they teach us, that the works of creation proclaim the existence, and dis- cover several of the attributes of God, and that the dispen- sations of Providence bear witness to every nation under heaven, of his bounty, on the one hand, in supplying the wants of his creatures, and of his awful but holy severity, i Gen. i. 1. 2 Acts xvii. 24—28 ; Ps. cxlvii. 4 ; Isa. xl. 26. DOCTRINAL TART OF THE TESTIMONY. 99 on the other, in punishing transgressors : l That these dis- coveries of God are calculated to excite a sense of moral obligation ; and that such a moral feeling, arising from the remains of the law of nature, exists among those who were never favoured with the written law. 2 2. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. i. sect 1, and in opposition to the Deists, who maintain the sufficiency of the light of nature to guide men to eternal happiness ; and also to those who maintain, that, " by the works of creation and providence, including tradition, God hath given an obscure objective revelation to all men, of his being reconcilable to sinners; and that the heathen may know that there is a remedy for sin provided, which may be called an implicit or obscure revelation of the gOSpel," — WE DECLARE, That the light of nature is insufficient to instruct fallen man how he is to glorify or enjoy God, as it does not reveal a method for his recovery from the ruins of the fall. The truth of this declaration appears from the following considerations : — That reason itself dictates, that man can- not now be in that condition in which he was originally created : That daily experience teaches, that man's fall has not only, in a great degree, effaced the law of nature originally engraven on his heart, but also debased his facul- ties, so as to render him, in a great measure, incapable of discerning the evidences of natural religion, and of forming proper conclusions from them with regard to his duty: That the extent of man's powers, in his present state, for these purposes, cannot be ascertained from the writings of modern Deists, who, how much soever they affect to despise supernatural revelation, have derived the greater part of their sentiments respecting God, and moral obligation, from that source : That, in every country destitute of supernatural revelation, the most erroneous notions respect- ing God, and the manner in which he is to be worshipped, have prevailed: 3 That even the more refined sentiments 1 Rom. i. 20 ; Acts xiv. 17 ; Ps. lxr. 8. 2 Acts xrii. 26, 27 ; Rom. ii. 14, 15. 3 1 Cor. i. 21 ; Rom. i. 22, 23. 100 DOCTRINAL PART of the heathen philosophers were found insufficient for the practical purposes of leading them to the worship of the true God, or deterring them from the commission of the most gross and unnatural crimes : ! That the works of crea- tion and providence afford no notices that God will pardon sinners, and restore them to favour ; and that any tradition to that effect, found in the early ages of the world among Gentile nations, must have been derived from supernatural revelation : That the Scriptures describe those who are destitute of divine revelation as having no hope, and with- out God in the world ; and that the method of reconcilia- tion, with respect both to its contrivance and manifestation, is a plan which eye had not seen, ear had not heard, and which could not have entered into the heart of man, if God had not revealed it to us by his Spirit. 2 3. In defence of the doctrines of the Confession, chap. i. sect. 3 and 5, and in opposition to the Deists, who deny that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God ; and to others, who reckon the apocryphal books of equal authority with the Scriptures, — we DECLARE, That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, and the only rule of faith and holy obedience, to which nothing is to be added by pre- tended new revelations of the Spirit or by tradition. In support of this statement we observe, — That the divine origin of the Holy Scriptures is sufficiently proved by many External Evidences, such as the miracles wrought by the penmen of Scripture, for the declared purpose of attesting their divine mission and inspiration ; the prophe- cies of Scripture, and their exact accomplishment ; the striking effects of the Scriptures, in the moral reformation of all who cordially embrace them, — effects which could not be produced by the lessons of philosophy, nor the force of human laws ; and the influence which the Scriptures have had in civilising the most barbarous nations, and in meliorating the condition of society at large, wherever the 1 Rom. i. 26—28. 2 1 Cor. ii. 8—10; Eph. ii. 11, 12. OF THE TESTIMONY. 101 knowledge of them has been disseminated: And that their Internal Evidences are most complete and satisfactory ; such as their spirituality, and the incomparable sublimity of their doctrines; the extent and purity of their precepts; the consistent view they give of God, and of his moral administration ; the harmony of their several parts, though written by different persons, and in different ages; the design and tendency of the whole to advance the glory of God and secure the salvation of men; and especially, the divine majesty and authority impressed upon them, and the irresistible power with which they are accompanied on the minds of them who believe, by which they evidence themselves to the heart and conscience to be, in truth, not the word of men, but the word of God. 1 We further observe, That the apocryphal books are destitute of the evidences of a revelation from God, and contain many things erroneous, superstitious, and immoral : — That they were never recognised by the ancient Jews, or acknowledged by our Lord, his Apostles, or the primitive Christians, as a part of the sacred canon, and the use of such writings is actually forbidden to the Christian Church : z : — In fine, that whoever attempts to add to the sacred volume, by pretended new revelations of the Spirit, or setting up oral tradition as of the same authority with the written word, exposes himself to the awful threatening with which the canon of Scripture is closed. 3 4. In opposition to those who maintain, that the sacred penmen had no full or particular inspiration, but were so left to themselves that they might err as to matters of less importance, and that their reasonings from facts and doc- trines are often inconclusive, — we declare, That all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and that the sacred penmen, in committing these holy oracles to writing, were under the infallible direction of the Holy Spirit, both with respect to matter and language. In support of this statement we would urge, That 1 1 John ii. 20—27; John xvi. 13, 14 ; 1 Cor. ii. 10—12; Isa. lis. 21 ; Rom. i. 16 ; 1 Cor. ii. 4 ; Jer. xxiii. 29. - Tit. i. 14. 3 Rev. xxii. 18, 19. E 2 102 DOCTRINAL PART although the inspired penmen wrote agreeably to their re- spective talents for composition, and although this accounts for the diversity of style throughout the Scriptures, yet in all that they wrote, as inspired, they were infallibly directed, not only as to the sentiments to be expressed, but also as to the phraseology best adapted to express these senti- ments: 1 — That we cannot conceive how supernatural doc- trines, with which they had no prior acquaintance, and future events, of which they could form no conjecture, could be conveyed to the minds of men accustomed to think in words, but by admitting that they were suggested to them in language dictated by the Spirit; and that it is still more inconceivable how they could have written intel- ligibly on subjects above their comprehension, when re- vealed, had not the language as well as the matter been furnished to them by inspiration: 2 — Nor is inspiration less necessary in the plainest historical narrative; for, while profane history has for its object only the civil and political benefit of individuals and nations, the inspired historians propose a much higher aim, — the advancement of salvation in subserviency to the glory of God in Christ, — an aim which requires a manner of thinking and writing peculiar to itself. "We further observe, That, to suppose that they might err in matters of less importance, or to affirm that their reasonings are often inconclusive, is to undermine the authority of the Bible, as it throws a suspicion over the whole, by leaving the mind in an uncertainty what to ad- mit as truth, and what to reject as error: That these sup- positions throw an injurious reflection upon the wisdom of God ; for though the avowed design of Scripture is to rescue men from error, yet, according to these sentiments, the means are not adequate to the end, but are, in many respects, calculated to increase instead of removing the evil; That they are injurious to his holiness, since, accord- ing to them, God has given to his creatures a rule of faith and manners calculated in many respects to lead them into error: And that they are not less injurious to his veracity, since they suppose that writings sanctioned by his authority, 1 1 Cor. ii. 13. 2 1 Pet. i. 11 ; DaD. xii. 8; Zech. iv. 11. OF THE TESTIMONY. 103 and claiming infallibility on that very account, may, not- withstanding, be mingled with error and falsehood. 5. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. i. sect. 7 — 9, and in opposition to the Socinians, who main- tain, that reason is the rule or standard by which we are to judge of the doctrines of supernatural revelation, and that we are bound to receive nothing as true which reason cannot comprehend, — we declare, That the Scriptures, from the subjects of which they treat, must contain many things mysterious ; that the ground of faith is not the wisdom of man, but the authority of God in his own word ; and that we are bound to believe whatever is contained in the Scrip- tures purely upon his authority, however far above our comprehension. In support of the above statements, we observe, That it is the province of reason to examine the evidences of the divine origin of any system proposed to us as a revelation from God ; but that the claims of that system being ascer- tained, we are bound to submit our reason implicitly to the authority of God : That if the mysterious doctrines revealed in Scripture contained any thing contradictory, or of im- moral tendency, it would be a sufficient reason for ques- tioning the divine authority of the Scripture itself; but since no such charge can be established against these doc- trines, their mysterious nature, instead of weakening, greatly strengthens the evidence of its divine origin : That reason itself suggests, that should God, who is unsearch- able, be pleased to grant us a supernatural revelation of his nature, perfections, and purposes, such a revelation must contain many things above our comprehension: That it may be expected there will be an analogy between the dis- covery which God gives of himself in his word, and that discovery which he has given of himself by his works ; but all God's works are wonderful; it must, therefore, be unreasonable to reject the doctrines of his word because they are mysterious : In fine, that the objections brought against some of the doctrines of revelation on this ground are equally applicable to many of the first principles of 104 DOCTRINAL PART natural religion, so that the Socinians, to act consistently, must abandon all religion, and become atheists. 6. In defence of the Confession, chap. i. sect. 4 — 10, and in opposition to the Papists, who maintain that the authority of the Scriptures is derived from the Church, or the sense which she puts upon them, — we declare, That the Scriptures themselves are the supreme standard of truth and duty, and that the supreme judge, by whom all controversies in religion are to be tried, is the Spirit of God speaking to us in the Scriptures. In support of this statement, we observe, That although the Church or her ministers are the official guardians of the Scriptures, and although it belongs to them to explain and enforce their doctrines and laws, yet their authority is only ministerial, and their interpretations and decisions are binding on the conscience, only in so far as they accord with the mind of the Spirit in the Scriptures : 1 That the Church is founded on the Scriptures, and that the authority of the Scriptures does not depend on the Church ; 2 that it is by the rule of the word that the con- stitution, and the whole administration of the Church, are to be tried ; and that it is by it that their truth or falsehood is to be determined. 3 7. In defence of the Confession, chap. i. sect. 8, and in •opposition to the Papists, who lay restrictions upon the use of the Scriptures, and upon the translation of them into the vulgar languages, — we declare, That, as salvation is intended by God for all ranks and classes of mankind, and as the Scriptures are designed by God as a means of making men wise unto salva- tion, so they must be intended for general use ; and that in order to this, it is necessary that they should be translated into the language of every nation. In proof of this we observe, That the Scriptures must have been intended for all classes, since all are enjoined to 1 Matt. xxii. 29—31. 2 Eph. ii. 20. 3 Acts xv. 13—16. OF THE TESTIMONY. 105 read them : l That a divinely approved practice must have a divine warrant ; but the young as well as the old, and the laity as well as their teachers, are commended for reading the Scriptures : 2 That all classes are condemned on account of their ignorance of the Scriptures, which implies that it is their duty to become acquainted with them : 3 In fine, that the laity are commended not only for searching the Scriptures, but for trying the doctrines of their public teachers by them. 4 We observe farther, That, since the gift of tongues ceased, the Scriptures could not have been of gene- ral benefit without translations from the original into vulgar languages; and that the use of such translations is sanctioned by the example of the Apostles, who frequently quoted passages of the Old Testament from the Septuagint. CHAPTER H. OF GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. Sect. I.— Of the Trinity. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. ii. sect. 3, and in opposition to the Antitrinitarians, who maintain, that God is one in respect of personality, as well as of essence ; and that the doctrine of the Trinity involves in it a contradiction, — we declare, That God is one in nature or essence, but that in the one Godhead are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the same in essence, and equal in power and eternity : and that the Scripture doctrine of the Trinity, though above reason, is not contrary to it, since it is not asserted that God is one in the same sense in which he is three, but that he is one in nature, and three in respect of personality. In proof of this we observe, — That it appears there are 1 John r. 39. 2 2 Tim. Hi. 14, 15. 3 Matt. xxii. 29 ; John t. 46. * Acts xrii 11. 106 DOCTRINAL PART more persons in the Godhead than one, from those passages in Scripture where God speaks of himself in the plural number, and from other passages where one divine person is introduced as speaking of, or to another : l That these divine persons are three, appears from the ascription of the Works of Creation and Providence to the agency of Three distinct persons: 2 That this doctrine is still more clearly unfolded in the history of redemption, in which each of the persons in the Trinity is represented as acting a distinct part in carrying the plan of mercy into effect, and in bearing witness to it; 3 and particularly, from the account of the mission and incarnation of Christ, and the mission and works of the Spirit; 4 from the history of our Lord's bap- tism; 5 from the institution of Christian baptism, and the form in which it is to be dispensed ; 6 and from the Aaro- nical taken in connection with the Apostolic benediction. 7 Sect. II. — Of the Divinity of Christ. 1. In opposition to the Socinians, who maintain that Christ is a mere man, and that he had no existence prior to his conception or birth, — we declare, That although our Lord was a real partaker of human nature, derived from the common stock of mankind, but without sin, in virtue of his miraculous conception ; yet the Scriptures plainly teach, that he existed in another nature before he became man. Scripture declares, That he was God before he was manifested in the flesh, and in the form of God, before he took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : 8 That he was with the Father as a divine person, before he came into the world by his assuming hu- man nature : 9 That he was the angel Jehovah, who gave i Gen. i. 26 ; iii. 22 ; xi. 6, 7; Ps. xlv. 6, 7; ex. 1 ; Is. vi. 8. 2 Ps. xxxiii. 6 ; John i. 3 ; Col. i. 16, 17 ; Heb. i. 2, 3 ; Ps. civ. 30. 3 1 Pet. i. 2 ; Eph. ii. 18 ; John viii. 18 ; John xv. 26 ; 1 John v. 7. * Is. xlviii. 16 ; Luke i. 35 ; John xiv. 26 ; xt. 26. 6 Luke iii. 16. 6 Matt, xxviii. 19. 7 Num. vi. 24, 25, 26 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 8 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; John i. 14; Phil. ii. 6, 7. 9 John xvi. 28. OF THE TESTIMONY. 107 the law from Mount Sinai, and conducted Israel from Egypt into the land of promise : l That he was with God as his personal Word at the commencement of time; and that all things were made by him : 2 That he had a personal glory with the Father before the world was: 3 And that his goings forth were of old from everlasting. 4 2. In opposition to the Arians, who, though they admit the pre-existence of Christ, deny, with the Socinians, his proper Deity, and maintain, that he existed before his incarnation only as a superangelic and created spirit, — WE DECLARE, That our Lord not only existed before he appeared in our world, but that he was also the true and supreme God, not deriving existence from the Father, but being equal with him in perfections and glory. In proof of this we observe, That our Lord's true and proper divioity is evident from the names peculiar to God which are given to him in Scripture, such as Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God, 5 the Mighty God, 6 the Great God, 7 the True God, 8 the only Wise God, 9 God over all blessed for ever: 10 That his proper divinity also appears from the attributes ascribed to him, such as, necessary existence, 11 eternity, 12 omnipresence, 13 omnipotence, 14 om- niscience, 15 and unchangeableness: 16 That he is a Divine Person is also evident from his performing those works which are peculiar to God, such as creation, 17 providence, 18 redemption, 19 forgiving sin, 20 raising the dead, 21 judging the world :" In fine, that he must be a Divine person, since he is to receive the same religious homage which is due to the Father from men and from angels. 23 1 Acts vii. 38; Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. " John i. 1, 2, 3. 3 John xvii. 5. 4 Micah v. 1, 2. 5 Ps. lxxxiii. 18; Is. xlii. 8, compared with Jer. xxiii. 6; Mai. iii. 1. 6 Is. ix. 6. " Titus ii. 13. 8 1 John v. 20. 9 Jnde 25. 10 Rom. ix. 5. 11 John i. 4; Exod. iii. 14, compared with John viii. 58. 12 Rev. L 8, 17. 13 Matt, xxviii. 20. u Rev. L 8. u John xxi. 17. 16 Heb. i. 10, 11, 12 ; xiii. 8. 17 John i. 3 ; Col. i. 17. 18 Col. i. 17 ; Heb. i. 3. » Gal. iii. 13. » Matt. ix. 6. 21 John v. 21, 28. * Acts xvii. 31. * Heb. i. 6 ; John v. 23. 108 DOCTRINAL PART Sect. Ill — Of the Sonship of Christ. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. ii. sect. 3, and in opposition to those who deny the proper and eternal sonship of Christ, — we declare, That Christ is the Son of God in respect of his natural, necessary, and eternal relation to the Father; and that his Sonship is not founded on his mission, in- carnation, or resurrection ; nor is it of the same kind with that of angels or believers. In proof of the above doctrine we would urge, That Son- ship is a natural, necessary, and eternal relation in Godhead: that our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Son as expressive of his divine glory, and in distinction from the most emi- nent and favoured servants of God among mankind and the highest angels; and that it must, therefore, be a name descriptive of his true Deity: 1 — That the term Father, as applied to the first person in Trinity, is a divine name ; that Father and Son are correlates, and, when used in a proper sense, always imply identity in nature; that Christ and his Father must be one in nature, for his Sonship is of a proper kind, God is his (idiog) proper Father, and he is God's own, his only-begotten Son; and that this identity in nature ex- cludes every idea of priority of existence in the Father, and of natural inferiority in the Son: 2 That the Jews understood our Lord's claim to Sonship as a claim to identity of nature with the Father, and consequently to proper Deity; and that he sanctioned the interpretation put upon his words, by the declaration, "I and my Father are one:" 3 — That the same idea runs through his declarations, that, as the Son, he had the same comprehensive knowledge, 4 did the same ♦works, and in the same manner, 5 and was entitled to the same honours with the Father: 6 That since our Lord's Son- ship is a natural relation in Godhead, it must be necessary, and not dependent upon the divine will, like the sonship of creatures; and that, if necessary, it must be eternal. 7 1 Ileb. i. 1— 8 ; iii. 3—6. 2 John v. 17, 18 ; i. 14. 3 John x. 30, 33. - * Matt. xi. 27 ; John vi. 46. 5 John v. 19, 21. 6 John v. 22, 23. 7 Micah v. 2. OF THE TESTIMONY. 109 We also observe, That our Lord's Sonship cannot be founded on his office, for, in his appointment to office in the eternal decree, the Father recognised him as the Son ; nor upon his mission, for he was God's Son before he was sent into the world ;* nor upon his incarnation, for the for- mation of his human nature is immediately ascribed to the third person, and the assumption of it was the act of the Son himself; nor upon his resurrection, for, in his resur- rection, he was not constituted the Son of God, but only- declared to be so in a special and peculiar manner. 2 We farther observe, That the denial of our Lord's eternal Sonship tends (though many who deny it have no such design) to invalidate the doctrine of the Trinity: That the terms Father and Son are personal titles, descriptive of personal properties ; and that, from their relative nature, the setting aside of the one is eversive of the other: That the term Father is the only one in Scripture by which the first person in Godhead is made known as a distinct person ; and that by denying the proper and necessary Sonship of Christ, we are in danger of losing the idea of the personal property, and, consequently, of the distinct personality of the Father, and of the relations in general subsisting among the divine persons, which has a tendency to lead to the ancient error, which made the Trinity only three names of one person : 3 — In fine, we would urge, That the denial of this doctrine throws a veil over the glory of the work of redemption ; for the grace and condescension of the second person in becoming incarnate, obeying, and suffering, — the love of the first in sending him, and in subjecting him to suffering and death for us, 4 — the dignity and efficiency of his offices, — and the inherent value of his work, — are all, in Scripture, made to turn upon his essential dignity as the Son of God. 5 Sect. IV. — Of the Personality and Supreme Deity of the Spirit. Is opposition to the Socinians and others who deny the 1 Ps. ii. 7,8; John iii. 16, 17. 2 Luke i. 35 ; Heb. ii. 16 ; Is. ix. 6 ; Rom. i. 3, 4. 3 1 John ii. 22, 23. * Gal. ii. 20 ; Heb. v. 8; John iii. 16 ; Rom. viii. 32. 3 Heb. iii. 5, 6 ; vii. 28 ; i. 3 ; John i. 18 ; v. 25. 110 DOCTRINAL PART distinct personality and true Godhead of the Spirit, — we DECLARE, ft- That the Holy Spirit is the third in the order of personal subsistence in Godhead, and that he is a true and pro- per person, distinct from the Father and the Son, and equal with them in all essential perfections and glory. In proof of this doctrine we observe, That the Spirit must be a person, since personal properties are ascribed to him, such as understanding, will, and power; 1 and since acts characteristic of persons are performed by him, such as teaching, leading, witnessing, sanctifying, comforting, and interceding: 2 That he must be a person distinct from the Father and the Son, for he is said to proceed from the Father, to be the Spirit of the Son, and to be sent by both. 3 That his true and proper divinity is evident from the names given to him, such as Jehovah, God, and the Lord the Spirit;* from the divine attributes ascribed to him, such as eternity, omniscience, omnipotence, and omni- presence; 5 from the divine works ascribed to him, as creation, providence, searching all things, the sovereign dispensation of gifts to men, quickening the dead, and the sanctification of the Church; 6 from sin being said to be committed against him as well as against the Father and the Son ; and from his being connected with the Father and the Son in prayer, baptism, and other acts of divine worship. 7 1 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11; xii. 11. 2 John xiv. 26; xvi. 13; Rom. viii. 14, 16; 2 Thess. ii. 13; John xv. 26 ; Rom. viii. 27. 3 John xv. 26 ; Gal. iv. 6 ; John xiv. 16; xvi. 7. 4 Is. vi. 9; compare Acts xxviii. 25; Acts v. 3, 4; 2 Cor. iii. 18. 5 Ileb. ix. 14 ; 1 Cor. ii. 10; Is. xi. 2 ; Ps. cxxxix. 7. 6 Gen. i. 2 ; Job xxxiii. 4 ; xxvi. 13 ; Ps. xxxiii. 6 ; civ. 30 ; Is. xl. 7; Is. lix. 19 ; lxiii. 14 ; Zech. iv. 6, 7; 1 Cor. ii. 10; xii. 11:2 Thess. ii. 13 ; Rom. viii. 11. 7 Matt. xii. 32 ; Heb. x. 29 ; Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Ezek. xxxvii. 9 ; Rev. i. 4. OF THE TESTIMONY. Ill CHAPTER III. OF THE DIVrNE DECREES. Sect. I. — The Decrees of God in general. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. iii. sect. 1, 2; and in opposition to the Socinians, who maintain that God's decrees are not eternal and necessary, but temporary and accidental ; and to the Arminians, who maintain that they are not absolute but conditional, — we declare, That God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, absolutely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass in time. In support of the above statement we observe, That, as God's knowledge is infinite and unchangeable, 1 so he must have known from everlasting every thing that comes to pass : 2 That, as he is the first cause, and as the existence of all things depends on his will, so he must have foreknown them as the matter of his own decree : 3 That, in the decree, the means, how contingent soever with respect to creatures, were fixed as well as the end; 4 and that as God is abso- lutely independent and immutable, all his decrees must infallibly be carried into execution. 5 Sect. II. — Of Divine Predestination. 1. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. iii. sect. 3 — 6 ; and in opposition to the Arminians, who maintain that election is only general and conditional, and that the doctrine of absolute and unconditional election tends to make men careless about the means of grace, and to encourage licentiousness, — we declare, That God, from everlasting, viewing all mankind as fallen 1 Eph. i. 11 ; Heb. vi. 17. 2 Acts xv. 18. 3 Is. xlvi. 10. * Pror. xix. 21 ; Acts ii. 27, 28. 5 Job xxiii. 13. 112 DOCTRINAL PART and ruined in the first Adam, out of his mere good pleasure, and without regard to any foreseen good in them, or to be done by them, did, by an absolute and unchangeable decree, elect a definite number of our family in Christ to salvation, and to the enjoyment of all the means leading to it ; and that this doctrine, instead of encouraging licentiousness, furnishes power- ful motives to the study of holiness. In proof of the above doctrine, we observe, That the Scriptures invariably represent the salvation of sinners in time as the effect of their election from eternity : l That they assert that this was not a choice merely of nations to the means of grace, but of particular persons to salva- tion ; and that these, in distinction from others, are said to be foreknown of God as his, given to Christ, and predestinated to be conformed to his image: 2 That the purpose of election was free, sovereign, and unconditional; and that faith,. repentance, and good works, are fruits of election, and could not, therefore, be the influencing causes of it : 3 That those who were chosen of God were also pre- destinated by him to eternal life, including all the blessings of grace here and glory hereafter: 4 That, in the same decree in which God elected some to salvation, he also appointed the means by which they were to be brought to the enjoy- ment of it ; and that, from this connection of the means with the end, the doctrine of election, instead of leading to carelessness, is calculated to excite to a diligent improve- ment of the means of salvation, as it lays a solid foundation for hope that our labour shall not be in vain. 5 2. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. iii. sect. 7, and in opposition to those who insist that the doc- trine of predestination, as it relates to those who were passed by, represents God as partial, cruel, and unjust to- wards his creatures, — we declare, 1 2 Tim. i. 9 ; Rom. viii. 29, 30. 2 Rom. ix. 4, 5, 7; 2 Tim. ii. 19; John xrii. 6; Rom. viii. 29. 3 Rom. xi. 5, 6 ; ix. 15, 16 ; ix. 11, 12; Eph. i. 4; Acts xiii. 48 ; Eph. ii. 8 ; 1 Pet. i. 1, 2. * Eph. i. 5, 11 •, Matt. xxv. 34. 5 1 Pet. i. 2 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13 ; 1 Cor. xv. 58. OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 1 3 That the eternal election of some of mankind to salva- tion, through Christ, supposes the pretention or passing by of others; that, in both cases, God acted as an absolute sovereign, who is debtor to none of his creatures, but who has a right to give or withhold his favours at pleasure ; and that his decree, as it regarded them who perish, was consistent with perfect equity. In support of this we observe, That it would have been just in God to pass by the whole of our race, and to deal with them as he did with the angels who sinned ; and that, in electing some to life, he did no injustice to those who were left to perish : That their own sin is the procuring cause of the final ruin of the reprobate, although the decree of God gives certain futurition to that event ; and that his decree is only a purpose of acting towards them according to the natural course of justice : l That to afflict a creature unnecessarily, or merely to render that creature miserable, would be cruelty ; but that punishment has no existence in the moral administration of God as an end — it is only a means necessary to secure the ends of his glory. 2 We only add, That while these remarks serve to obviate the objections of adversaries, the doctrine itself is among the deep things of God, which we cannot comprehend, but which we are to receive upon the authority of his word, and in which we are bound to acquiesce with holy wonder Sect. III. — Of the eternal Establishment of the Covenant of Grace. In opposition to those who deny that there was a federal transaction between the Father and the Son from everlasting about the redemption of fallen men ; and to those who maintain that the Covenant, as dispensed by means of the gospel, is conditional, — we declare, That the purpose of mercy, from its very nature, as- 1 Jade 4. * Ezek. xviii. 23; Psal. xi. 6, 7 ; Rom. ix. £2. 3 Matt. xi. 25, 26 ; Rom. ix. 17—21 ; xi. S3. 114 DOCTRINAL PART sumed, in the decree of election, the form of a cove- nant between the Father, on the part of Godhead, and the Son, as the representative of the elect, who was to fulfil its condition. In proof of this we observe, That the decree of election, and the covenant of grace, as established between God in the person of the Father, on the part of Godhead, and God in the person of the Son, as the representative of the elect, are not to be viewed as distinct in the divine mind, which admits of no succession of thought, but comprehends in one design all the parts of the grand plan of mercy : That as the persons of Trinity are one in will as well as in nature, so the decree of election must be the decree of each of these persons, according to the order of their personal subsistence in Godhead ; and it takes the form of a covenant from the character the Son was to sustain, and the part he was to act in carrying that decree into effect: That, considered as the purpose of the Father, it was a purpose to confer eternal life upon a number of the human race, in the way of his own Son assuming their nature, and in that nature fulfilling all righteousness in their room ; — " they were chosen in him;" — u were predestinated through him into the adoption of children;" — "had grace given them in him before the world was:" 1 and accordingly this purpose of the Father contained, in relation to the Son, the stipulations of a covenant, that he should see his seed, on condition of his soul being made an offering for sin : 2 That, as the Son is one in will with the Father, he must have purposed to assume human nature, and in that nature to fulfil all righteousness in the room of his people, that they might have life through him ; and that, as the Divine purpose, on the part of the Father, bears the form of a promise made, and a condition proposed, to the Son ; so the same purpose, on the part of the Son, bears the form of an undertaking, in relation to the will of the Father ; in this joint purpose, therefore, respecting man's redemption, we have all the parts of a proper covenant. 3 We further observe, That although the parties in this 1 Eph. i. 4, 5 ; 2 Tim. i. 9. 2 Isa. Iiii. 10 ; Tit. i. 2. 3 Psal. ixxxix. 3 ; Isa. xlii. 6. OF THE TESTIMONY. 115 Divine covenant were, more especially, the Father repre- senting Godhead, and the Son as the representative of the elect, yet the Holy Spirit being one with them in will, must be viewed as a party concurring in it, and engaging to fulfil its stipulations, in as far as these regarded the part he was to act in carrying into effect the plan of redemp- tion : That it is from this divine purpose or covenant, that the economical characters which the three persons in God- head sustain in the work of redemption take their rise ; that the Father appears representing Deity in this economy, and sustaining at once the character of a righteous Judge, exacting from his own Son the punishment of our iniqui- ties as the condition of the covenant, and the character of a gracious Sovereign, — his covenant God conferring upon him the grace of the covenant ; that the Son appears in the character of the Father's servant, and our surety ; and that the Spirit assumes the appropriate character of the Spirit of Christ, is sent by him, and comes in his name to apply the blessings of salvation to his chosen seed : l In fine, that these relations, being voluntary, do not imply any natural inferiority in the Son to the Father, or in the Spirit to the Father or the Son. "We observe further, That God's covenant for the re- covery of fallen men, is one ; that the covenant made with Christ from everlasting, is the same which is tendered to sinners in the Gospel for their acceptance ; and that it is not by a new federal transaction between God and them, but by their taking hold of that covenant, that they are put in possession of the blessings of salvation. 2 In fine, we observe, that the righteousness of Christ is the only condition of the covenant of Grace; that its condition being fulfilled by our Lord's obedience unto death, it is exhibited to sinners in the form of a free promise ; that it is by faith alone, as opposed to works of every kind, that we come to be instated in the promise, and it is by faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the promised seed. 3 1 Isa. liii. 4, 5, G ; John xx. 17 ; Isa. xlii. 1 ; Heb. vii. 22 ; John xvi. 7, li. 2 Isa. lv. 3 ; Isa. ivi. 6. 3 Acts ii. 39 j Gal. iii. 18 ; Rom. ir. 16. 11G DOCTRINAL PART CHAPTER IV. OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, v., and in opposition to the Fatalists, and those modern philo- sophers who maintain, that, in the original constitution of all things, God gave to the material creation physical, and to the intelligent creation moral laws, by which they are sustained and governed, independently of his continued influence, — we declare, That, as God is the Creator of all things in the heavens and on the earth, so he necessarily supports, preserves, and governs them all ; and that, although in the ori- ginal constitution of all things, he gave laws to the several parts of the Creation suited to their nature ; yet these laws are not independent on his continued influence, which is employed by him in accomplishing his holy and wise purposes. In proof of this we observe, That the errors to which the above declaration is opposed, are contrary to reason, as well as Scripture, as they either deny the existence of God as the first cause, or assign to what are called the laws of nature, that independence which belongs to God alone i 1 That although the Scriptures admit of second causes, both in the physical and moral world, and that God, in ordi- nary cases, employs them as the instruments of his pro- vidence, yet they teach, that the connexion of these causes and their effects, is not fixed by a fatal necessity, but that it is dependent on the will of God, and subject to his control : 2 That the providence of God, including sustentation and government, extends to all creatures, from the highest angel to the meanest reptile; and that the same providence which sustains the sun in the firmament, and directs the stars in their courses, clothes the grass of 1 Rom. xi. 34, 35, 36. 8 Psal. ciii. 20, 21 ; cxxxvi. 7—9 ; cvii. 33—35 ; lxvi. 6 ; Dan. iii. 23—25. OF THE TE3TIMONY. 117 the field with verdure, and regulates the motions of the small- est particle of matter : l That, although the physical world is governed by physical laws, according to which one thing is instrumental in producing another, yet their efficiency, as second causes, depends on the continued influence of God, the great first cause, and is subject to his control; and that, to assert the contrary, is to deny the existence, and even the possibility of miracles, and to undermine the whole of re- vealed religion, as far as it rests upon their evidence : 2 That while the providence of God extends to his rational crea- tures, and to all their volitions and actions, yet his provi- dential influence is not destructive of their rational liberty, for they are under no compulsion, but act freely; and that to teach that they act from a fatal necessity, is to deny them that natural liberty necessary to them as responsible agents: 3 That, although God governs the rational creatures by moral laws, and although the upright part of them, in obeying these laws, act freely, yet their holy volitions pro- ceed from divine influence, disposing and inclining them to will and to do that which is good ; and that to assert the contrary, would be to deny the moral dependence of the rational creation on God, and, in particular, to contradict the whole doctrine of Scripture respecting the nature and necessity of divine grace: 4 That although God is not the author of sin, but only permits it, yet his providence ex- tends to sinful actions, but in such a way, that he does not concur with or countenance the sinner in the sinful- ness of these actions ; and that his providence is employed in restraining the wickedness of the creature, in overruling his sinful actions for accomplishing his own holy and wise purposes, and in punishing them both in this life and that which is to come : 3 In fine, that there is no event casual with respect to God ; and that those things which are ac- cidental with regard to us, are foreknown to Him, " who declareth the end from the beginning, and from ancient ,» Col. i. 17 ; Hcb. i. 3 ; Psal. ciii. 19 ; Matt. vi. 26 ; x. 29, 30. 2 Hosea ii. 21, 22 ; Josh. x. 12— H ; Dan. \l 22 ; Matt. viii. 2(3, 27. 3 Dan. iv. 85 ; Isaiah x. 6, 7 ; Ps. xxxiii. 10. * Phil. ii. 13 ; John xv. 5. 5 James i. 13 ; Ps. lxxvi. 10 ; Acts iv. 27, 28 ; Ps. xi. 6, 7. F 118 DOCTRINAL PART times the things which are not yet done, saying, My coun- sel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." 1 CHAPTER V. OF THE COVENANT OF WORKS, AND ORIGINAL SIN. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. vi. sect. 3, 4, and in opposition to the Socinians, Arminians, and others, who deny that a covenant was made with Adam, as the representative of his posterity, that Adam's first sin is imputed to them, and that infants come into the world guilty and polluted, — we declare, That when God created man after his image, by an act of infinite condescension, he entered into covenant with him, not only for himself, but for all his natural posterity, promising him life, on condition of his per- fect obedience to the law he was under, as virtually summed up in the positive precept respecting the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and threat- ening death in case of disobedience ; and that when he brake the covenant, as a public representative, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him ; and that, in conse- quence of his first transgression, all his natural posterity come into the world guilty and polluted. In support of this we observe, That man, as a rational creature, must be under a moral law to God, and that Adam had that law, commonly called the law of Nature, engraven on his heart ; 2 That, although it is a dictate of natural law, that punishment must follow crime, and hap- piness obedience, under the government of a holy and good God, yet that law afforded no positive assurance to man, even in a state of innocency, of the perpetuity of his exist- ence, much less of any higher state of being than that 1 1 Kings xxii. 28, 29, 34 ; Isaiah xlvi. 10. 2 Rom. ii. 14, 15. OF THE TESTIMONY. 119 which he presently enjoyed ; it was therefore a great act of kindness and condescension in God to bring him under the law in a covenant form, promising him life as the reward of his obedience, which he did in the ordinance respecting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: 1 That Adam being perfect, must have given his consent to the terms proposed to him by God, as the condition of his eternal happiness : 2 That a promise of life was annexed to his obedience, may be inferred from the threatening of death in case of disobedience ; — from the description which Moses gives of the righteousness of the law, "the man that doeth these things shall live by them ; " — from our Lord's answer to the young man who inquired what he should do to inherit eternal life ; — from the declaration of the apostle that the commandment was ordained to life; and from his assigning man's inability, in his fallen state, as a reason why the law cannot give life : 3 That the death threatened in the covenant must have included not only temporal and spiritual, but eternal death, may be inferred from the infinite desert of sin, which must subject the guilty creature to punishment of infinite duration, since t he cannot endure punishment infinite in degree ; and that the life promised must have been of the same extent as to its duration with the death to which it was opposed : 4 That the representa- tive character of Adam appears from his being called the figure of Christ, who is the representing head of the elect in the covenant of grace, and from the comparison stated in scripture between Christ, who is called the second man, and Adam, who is called the first man, and the manner in which sin and death came by the disobedience of the one, and righteousness and life by the obedience of the other, — which comparison can only refer to them respectively, as covenant representatives, and the consequences of that representation to those represented by them : 5 And that unless the public character of Adam, as a representative in the covenant, be admitted, no satisfactory reason can be assigned why we are affected by his first sin in a way 1 Gen. ii. 17. 2 Hosea vi. 7. 3 Gen. ii. 17; Rom. x. 5; Matt. xix. 16, 17; Rom, vii. 10; viii. 3. 4 Rom. v. 12—21. 5 Rom. v. 14 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45—47 ; Rom. v. 17—19. 120 DOCTRINAL PART that we are not affected by his subsequent transgres- sions, or the transgressions of our more immediate pro- genitors. 1 We observe further, that this was a most favourable constitution both with regard to Adam and to his posterity: That, although he was brought under the whole moral- natural law in a covenant form, yet his acting for life, or death, was made to turn upon the positive precept respect- ing the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and that pre- cept in a negative form : That, from the ample grant of all the other trees of the garden for his use, he was under no temptation from external circumstances to violate that precept: And that, as the common parent of mankind, he had motives to steadfastness which none of his posterity could have had, (had they been called individually to act for themselves,) arising from the knowledge, which there is every reason to suppose he possessed, of the consequences which would result from his conduct to his latest pos- terity. We observe further, That it is a plain dictate of Scrip- ture, that, when Adam broke the covenant, all mankind sinned in him, and fell with him, his guilt being accounted theirs in law, as really as if contracted in their own per- sons: 2 That death, the wages of sin, comes upon all man- kind by Adam's first transgression ; — the guilt of that trans- gression must therefore be imputed to all mankind: 3 That there is no satisfactory way of accounting for the distress and death of infants, who are incapable of actual transgres- sion, but by admitting the imputation of Adam's first sin to them, and that this is the principle on which it is ex- plained in Scripture: 4 That death is represented in Scrip- ture as coming to Adam's posterity through him in a way similar to that in which life comes to Christ's spiritual seed through him : but life is obtained through Christ by the imputation of his righteousness; death must therefore come through Adam by the imputation of his sin: 5 In fine, that the Scriptures clearly teach, that, in consequence of Adam's fall, all his natural posterity come into the world, not only 1 Ezek. xviii. 20. 2 Rom. t. 19. 3 Rom. v. 12. 4 Rom. t. 13, H. 5 1 Cor. xt. 22; Rom. iv.ll. OF THE TESTIMONY. 121 guilty, but destitute of original righteousness, and with a nature totally corrupted. 1 CHAPTER VI. of man's inability in his fallen state to will or do what is spiritually good. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. ix. sect. 3, and in opposition to the Pelagians, Arminians, and others, who deny the total depravity of man since the fall, and maintain that he has still an ability to will and to do that which is spiritually good; that his not doing so is more owing to the influence of example than depravity of disposition; and that to deny him that ability is inconsistent with his responsibility as a moral agent, — we declare, That man, as fallen, is dead in trespasses and sins ; that, under the power of spiritual death, he must be inca- pable of willing or doing that which is spiritually good ; and that this being a moral inability, it is not inconsistent with his responsibility. In support of this we observe, That the influence of ex- ample and temptation, though powerful, is insufficient to account for the universal prevalence of moral evil among mankind, since it is often found predominant in those who are placed in external circumstances the most favourable to a life of holiness: 2 That this is an universal effect, which must have a cause of the same extent ; and that it cannot be accounted for in a satisfactory manner, but by admitting the scripture doctrine of the total depravity of human nature in its fallen state : That the Scripture repre- sents man in that state as wholly under the power of sin. having his understanding darkened, his will depraved, his conscience defiled, and his affections corrupted ; and de- 1 Eccl. vii. 29 ; Paa. li. 5 ; Job xiv. i ; Rom. iii. 9—19. 2 Heb. xii. 16 ; John xiii. 21—26. 122 DOCTRINAL PART clares that his actions, taking their moral character from the state of his heart, are only evil, and that continually; 1 That the causes of every volition in all moral determina- tions, are the state of the intellect and moral dispositions of the agent willing ; that a wicked man must therefore in- variably will that which is evil, since his understanding is darkened, and his dispositions totally depraved — " alienated from the life of God, by the ignorance that is in him, because of the blindness of his heart;" and that, notwith- standing this, as in sinning he acts not from compulsion but from choice, he must retain all that liberty which is necessary to render him a responsible agent: 2 That the depravity of man's nature can form no excuse for the sin of his life, else his first sin, by which he lost the rectitude of his nature, would have rendered him incapable of future transgression; that his depravity is from himself; that although he has, by his own delinquency, lost his ability to obey, yet God retains his right to demand obedience ; and that he is accountable to God for the depraved ten- dencies of his nature, as well as for the evils of his life which spring from them: 3 In fine, that man's inability, in his fallen state, to do that which is spiritually good, is plainly supposed in the Scripture doctrine of the necessity of a change of state and heart, in order to his walking with God in newness of life. 4 CHAPTER VII. OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. vii. sect. 3, 4, 5, 6 ; chap. viii. sect. 6 ; and in opposition to 1 Jer. iv. 22; 1 Cor. ii. 14 ; Rom. viii. 7; Tit. i. 15 ; Rom. viii. 5 ; Phil. iii. 19 ; Matt. xii. 33, 31, 35. > Eph. iv. 18, 19; James i. 13, 14, 15; Hosea v. 11; Eccles. viii. 11. 3 Eccl. vii. 29; Psa. xcv. 8, 9, 10. * Rom. vii. 4; Eph. ii. 10 ; Phil. ii. 13. OF THE TESTIMONY. 123 the Socinians, some Anabaptists, and others, who maintain that the Old Testament dispensation was not a dispensa- tion of the Covenant of Grace, but a mere political eco- nomy, securing only temporal benefits to God's ancient people ; that they were ignorant of the blessings of spiri- tual salvation, and particularly of a future state of happi- ness ; and also, in opposition to those who maintain that the Old Testament Scriptures are not of the same use, or authority in the Church, since the introduction of the new dispensation, — we declare, That the Church, from her first erection, existed under the charter of the Covenant of Grace, of which Christ is the alone mediator ; that the Old and New Testa- ment economies are but two dispensations of the same covenant; that the civil polity, and temporal privileges, of God's ancient people, were subordinate to, and, in some instances, typical of, spiritual bless- ings ; that believers then, as well as now, were saved by faith in Christ, and lived and died in the hope of a blessed immortality ; and that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament constitute but one rule of faith and manners to the Church in New Testament times. For illustrating these statements we observe, That our Lord Jesus Christ is the alone mediator of the Covenant of Grace, and that Moses, and others, who acted between God and the people under the former dispensation, were only types of Christ, the one mediator between God and man : l That our Lord is the surety of the covenant as a sacrificing priest, and the administrator of it as an advo- cate, prophet, and king : 2 That, though the covenant was not ratified by his death till the end of ages, yet, by virtue of his Father's appointment, and his own undertaking to lay down his life for that end, he entered upon the admi- nistration of it immediately after the fall ; and that, until the period arrived for its substantial ratification by his own blood, it was ratified by the blood of slain beasts, as a type of his future sacrifice : 3 That, in consequence of its ratifi- cation by the shedding of blood, its administration, from 1 1 Tim. ii. 5. » 1 John ii. 1, 2 ; Acta yu. 37 ; Psa. ii. 6. 3 Gen. iii. 15; xv. 7—11 ; Exod. xxir. 5— S. J 24 DOCTRINAL PART the beginning was testamentary, or in the form of a free promise : ! That, although the administration of the cove- nant before, and its administration after the coming of Christ, differ in several respects, especially in what related to its ratification ; and although, on that account, they are distinguished by the appellations, the Old and the New Testaments, yet these are but two dispensations of the same covenant, — God's Covenant of promise made to Abraham and to his seed, is the same that is tendered to us and to our children, — the covenant God of the Jews, is the God of the Gentiles also, — the blessing of Abraham is the blessing which is come upon the Gentiles, — and Jews and Gentiles are fellow-heirs of the same spiritual inheri- tance. 2 "We observe further, That our Lord Jesus Christ was the administrator of the Covenant of Grace under the former as well as under the present dispensation, though not in the same visible form ; that the visible agents then em- ployed, such as Moses, the Levitical priests, and the Pro- phets, were commissioned by him, and acted under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in the appropriate character of the Spirit of Christ ; and that, to show that he was the one mediator between God and man then, as well as after he assumed human nature, he, on extraordinary occasions, and particularly at the commencement of any new era in the Church, appeared in a visible form, and communicated the will of God to man : 3 That there is reason to believe that all the appearances of Deity under that dispensation, to converse with men, were appearances of God, not in his absolute character, nor in the person of the Father or Spirit, but in the person of the Son, and in the character of Mediator : that he was the voice or personal word of God, who revealed the plan of mercy to our first parents in Paradise ; the angel Jehovah, who gave the promises to Abraham ; and the angel who gave the law from Horeb, and conducted the chosen tribes through the wilderness into the land of promise. 4 1 Gal. iii. 18. 2 Gen. xvii. 7; Acts ii. 38, 39; Gal. iii. 13, 14; Rom. iii. 29, 30; Eph. iii. 6. 3 1 Pet. i. 11 ; Gen. xrii. 1 ; xviii. 1. * John i. 18 ; Gen iii. 8—18 ; xvii. 1—7; Acts yii. 38; Exod. xxiii. 20,21. OF THE TESTIMONY. 12."» Again, we observe, That God's Covenant of promise under the former dispensation, contained a revelation of a spiritual and eternal salvation through the promised Messiah : and that all the subsequent revelations of God's will to his ancient people, and all his dispensations towards them, were subservient to the carrying into effect of the promise of the mission of Christ, and the spiritual redemption of the Church through him: 1 That the promise was of avail then, as well as under the present dispensation, for all the purposes of a spiritual salvation to believers ; 2 that they were acquainted not only with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, but also with the doctrine of the resurrection of the body : ' that they lived and died in the faith of a blessed immortality beyond death; and that, under the influence of this faith, many of them obtained the crown of martyrdom. 4 "We observe, further, That although the new dispensation of the Covenant exceeds the old in glory, from the mani- festation of the Son of God in our nature — its substantial ratification by his obedience unto the death — the more full and clear exhibition of its blessings by means of the gospel — the more abundant outpouring of the Spirit — the intro- duction of a more spiritual form of worship — and from the whole administration under the present economy being in a more immediate and visible manner in the hand of Christ, as the Son over his own house ; yet New Testament reve- lation does not invalidate the authority, or supersede the use of the Old Testament Scriptures : b That Christ came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil them ; that the Church, in New Testament times, is built upon the foundation of the Prophets, as well as of the Apostles ; that the Scriptures of the Old Testament serve to confirm those of the New, and that they throw light upon and explain each other ; that while the Old Testament, as a revelation of a plan of mercy, is perfected by the New, the New Testament, so far as regards moral worship and law, would be incomplete without the Old Testament ; that we are 1 1 Pet. 10-12. 2 Gen. iv. 4 ; v. 22 ; Rom. ir. 1-6. i Ps. lxxiii. 24-2G ; Job xix. 25-27. 4 John viiL 56 ; Heb. xi. 9, 10, 13, 14, 15 ; Acts xxvi 7 ; Ileb. xi. 33—35. 3 2 Cor. iii. 7-11; John i. 14; Heb. vii. 22 ; ii. 1-3; Acts ii. 16, 18 ; John iv. 23, 24 ; Heb. iii. 5, 6. f2 126 DOCTRINAL PART enjoined by our Lord and his Apostles to search the Scriptures of the Old Testament ; and that these are still profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. 1 CHAPTER VIII. OF THE SURETYSHIP AND SATISFACTION OF CHRIST. Sect. I. — Of the Necessity of a Satisfaction for Sin, in order to Forgiveness. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. ii. sect. 1, and in opposition to the Socinians and others, who deny that retributive justice belongs necessarily to God, and maintain that he may pardon sin without a satisfaction, — WE DECLARE, That while the exercise of mercy is sovereign in God, who says, " I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy," the exercise of his retributive justice is necessary, and accordingly there is a necessity for satisfaction, in order to the forgiveness of sin. In support of this statement we observe, That the neces- sity of the punishment of sin, in order to forgiveness, appears from the Holiness of God, which requires that his hatred of sin, and delight in rectitude, be vindicated by the punishment of his dependent creatures, when they commit iniquity ; 2 from his Justice as a lawgiver and judge, which requires that his moral supremacy, and the honour of his law be supported, by his rendering indignation and wrath to every soul of man that doeth evil; 3 from the immutabi- lity of his Truth, in the penal sentence of his law, which denounces death as the punishment due to transgressors;* 1 Matt. v. 17; Eph. ii. 20; Heb. xi. 40; Matt. xxii. 37-39; John v. 39 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16. 2 Psa. xi. 6, 7 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 22, 23. * Psa. ix. 8; Rom. ii. 6-9. * Gen. ii. 17; Rom. ?i. 23. OP THE TESTIMONY. 127 and from his Goodness, as a moral governor, which requires that sin, which introduces disorder and moral insubordina- tion into his dominions, be punished for the general welfare of the intelligent creation r That the Scriptures expressly declare, that vengeance and recompense belong to God, and that the wicked shall not go unpunished : 2 That the dic- tates of natural law, in the cod science even of the most barbarous nations, coincide with the testimony of Scrip- ture ; and that the same thing may be inferred from the history of the divine government in the present life. 3 We observe further, That sin being of infinite desert, no creature can endure its punishment, so as to procure his own forgiveness ; and that if God, in his infinite wisdom and grace, had not found out a plan for satisfying the claims of his justice, the whole of our race had remained eternally in a state of guilt and ruin. 4 Sect. II. — Of the Substitution of Christ in the room of Sinners. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. viii. sect. 4, and in opposition to the Socinians, who deny our Lord's substitution, and assert, that he did not suffer and die in our stead, but only for our good, to confirm his doctrine, and to leave us an example of patience and resignation under suffering, — we declare, That God, in his infinite grace and wisdom, devised the glorious method for satisfying the claims of his justice, in order that pardoning mercy might be extended to sinners of our race, in the choice, appointment, and mission of his Son, to be our surety ; and that his sufferings, even unto the death, in human nature, were vicarious, or in the room of his people, whom he came to redeem. In proof of this doctrine we observe, That the Scriptures 1 Isa. xxvi. 9 ; 2 Thess. i. 6, 7, 8. 2 Heb. x. 30, 31 ; Prov. xi. 21. 3 Acts xxviii. 4, 5; 2 Pet. ii. 1-9. * Psal. xlix. 7, 8, 9; Job xxxiii. 24. 128 DOCTRINAL PART declare that our Lord, in assuming human nature, was made under the law, by a supernatural constitution, in the room of his people ;* and that all which he did and suffered in our world, as the subject of law, was vicarious, or in the room of others 2 — "He suffered, the just for (or, instead of) the unjust" — " He gave his life a ransom for many" — " He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities :" 3 That the whole sacrificial ritual un- der the legal dispensation, was typical of the death of Christ; but that if his death was not vicarious, that ritual had no meaning, for all the legal sacrifices were vicarious — their blood went for man's blood, and their life for man's life : 4 That, under that dispensation, the guilt of the offender was transferred to his sin-offering or trespass-offering, byth e laying on of his hands and confession, and, bearing this imputed guilt, the animal was considered as accursed, and went by the name of sin, or trespass, among the Hebrews ; and that, to shew that the type is realised in our Lord's sub- stitution in the room of his people, he is said to have borne their sins in his own body on the tree — to have been made sin for us — to have been made a curse for us. 5 That it is impossible to reconcile his death with the justice and good- ness of God in any other way, than by admitting the doc- trine of his substitution : That as he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners, a righteous God would never have dealt with him as a sinner, by inflicting on him death, the punishment of sin, had he not sustained the character of our surety ; and that, to deny the doctrine of his substitution, is to fix upon the Father of Mercies the charge, not only of injustice, but also of cruelty, towards his own — his only-begotten Son : 6 That example, and the confirmation of his doctrine, were ends of his sufferings and death ; but they were only subordinate ends, and that the principal end of them was to make atonement for the sins of his people. 7 1 Gal. iv. 4. 2 Dan. ix. 26. 3 1 Pet. iii. 18 ; Matt. xx. 28 ; Isaiah liii. 5, 6. * Lev. xvii. 11; Heb. x. 1, 2. * ] Pet. ii. 24; Gal. iii. 13 ; 2 Cor. v. 21. 6 Isa. liii. 10 ; Kom. yiii. 32. 7 Dan. ix. 24; Heb. ix. 26. OF THE TE3TDIONY. 129 Sect. III. — The Nature and Extent of Christ's Satisfaction, with respect to the Law. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. viii. sect. 5, and in opposition to the Socinians, who deny the penal nature of our Lord's death, and limit his sufferings to what he endured from men ; — to the Papists, and others, who restrict his satisfaction to his enduring the curse of the law, and deny that he obeyed its precept to procure our title to life ; — and to the Neonomians, who assert that " He only satisfied divine justice for sinners, in so far as to ren- der it consistent with God's honour, to enter upon lower terms of salvation with them," — we declare, That Christ, as our surety, was made under the law as a broken covenant of works ; that, by enduring in his soul and body all the penal evil which we had incur- red by our fall in Adam, and our own personal trans- gressions, and yielding perfect obedience to the pre- cept, he procured our freedom from condemnation, and our title to life ; and that, by his obedience even unto the death, he wrought out a perfect righteous- ness, on the ground of which we are justified, to the exclusion of all works of ours whatsoever. In proof of this we observe, That since our Lord suffered and died under the curse, his sufferings and death must have been strictly of a penal nature : l That all that he suf- fered through life, and at his death, by the agency of Satan and wicked men, was from God, as a righteous judge, as they did only what his hand and his counsel had determined before to be done: 2 That his principal sufferings arose from the power of (Jod's judicial displeasure upon his soul, and the suspension for a season of the manifestations of his favour ; that these constituted the essence of that death which is the wages of sin ; and that unless we admit that he suffered these immediately from God, it is impossible to account for his amazement and agony in the garden, and his bitter lamentation on the cross : 3 That our Lord's suffer- Gal. iv. 4 ; iii. 13. 2 John xix. 11 ; Acts ii. 23 ; iv. 27, 28. Isaiah liii. 10 ; Luke xxii. 42, 43, 44 ; Mark xv. 34. 130 DOCTRINAL PART ings unto death, as our surety, possessed every thing requi- site to a true and proper satisfaction for sin, — he suffered by the appointment of God, who alone had a right to ad- mit of the death of a surety in the room of transgressors ; — he suffered in the same nature that had sinned ; — his sufferings were voluntary and obediential, and therefore possessed a moral fitness for making reparation to the in- jured honours of the divine law ; — he was Lord of his own life, and had a right to lay it down in the room of others ; — and his sufferings were, from the dignity of his person, of infinite value for the expiation of our sins. 1 "We further observe, That it was necessary that Christ, as our surety, should not only endure the penalty of the law, to obtain our deliverance from condemnation, but also that he should obey its precept, to procure for us a title to life : 2 That in the Covenant of Works, obedience was the condi- tion on which life was to be enjoyed by Adam and his pos- terity ; and that, although the law of that covenant ceased to be a law which could give life to Adam or to his posterity, on the ground of their own obedience, the mo- ment the covenant was broken ; yet it was necessary, for the vindication of the equity and goodness of God in that transaction, that any other covenant for man's recovery should make obedience to the precept of the law the con- dition of life : 3 That life was accordingly promised in the eternal covenant to our Lord's spiritual seed, on condition of his fulfilling all righteousness in their room ; that they enjoy the inheritance of eternal life, as well as the redemp- tion of their persons, through his obedience unto the death ; and that his suffering the penalty of the law, and his obedi- ence to its precept, constitute but one righteousness, which in scripture is sometimes denominated from the one, and sometimes from the other : 4 That, had not Christ procured our title to the eternal inheritance, by obeying the precept of the law, he could not have been the antitype of the Goel (or kinsman) among the Hebrews ; for redemption, by the Hebrew Goel, was to extend to inheritances, as well as to persons : 5 That eternal life is not the less free, that it flows 1 1 John iv. 10 ; Heb. ii. 17 ; Phil. ii. 6, 7 ; John x. 18 ; Acts xx. 28 ; Heb. i. 3. * Rom. v. 17. 3 Matt. v. 17. * Tit. i. 2 ; Eph. i. 11. 5 Lev. xxv. 25. OF THE TESTIMONY. 131 through a mediatorial righteousness ; for great as the grace of God appears in conferring this life, it appears still greater in the mission of his Son to procure it; and, though conferred on the ground of the righteousness of the surety, yet it is of pure, unmerited, and unsolicited grace to the sinner. ■ We observe further, That the opinion that Christ satis- fied divine justice for sinners, in so far only as to render it consistent with God's honour to propose lower terms of salvation to them, has no foundation in Scripture ; for Christ came not to mutilate or destroy the law originally given to man, but to fulfil it : 2 That to suspend salvation upon any terms to be performed by us, such as faith, re- pentance, or sincere obedience, is to frustrate the grace of God, to teach that righteousness is still by the works of the law, and to assert that Christ died in vain : 3 And that the idea of dividing the work of satisfaction between the surety and the sinner, is in express contradiction to the perfection ascribed to the work of Christ in Scripture, where we are told, that " he finished transgression, and made an end of sin" — that "he is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" — and that " by one offering, he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." 4 Sect. IV. — Of the Extent of Christ's Death, icith respect to its objects. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap .viii. sect. 5 — 8, and in opposition to the Arminian tenet, that Christ died for all men — for those who finally perish, as well as for those who shall be eventually saved — we de- clare, That the intrinsic value of the death of Christ being infinite, it must have been sufficient as a ransom for all mankind, had it been the will of i God that all man- kind should be redeemed by it ; but that in his Father's design, and his own intention, he laid down his life for the elect only, who shall be saved from wrath through him. 1 Rom. iii. 24 ; Eph. i. 7 ; Rom. v. 21. 2 Matt. v. 17; Rom. x. 4. 3 Gal. ii. 21. * Dan. ix. 24 ; Rom. x. 4; Heb. x. 14. 132 DOCTRINAL PART In proof of this we observe, That he laid down his life " for the sheep," and these sheep are the objects of his special knowledge ; but he himself declares, that all are not of his sheep, and that he will say to a number of mankind, " Verily, I say unto you, I know you not :" ' That those for whom he died are called his Church, a term which is never put for the whole human race ; and that he gave himself for the Church, that he might sanctify, and even- tually glorify it, — his intention in dying must therefore have been limited to those who should be saved by him with an everlasting salvation : 2 That the term Redemption, as used with reference to the death of Christ, signifies de- liverance on the ground of a ransom ; that the ransom was the life of Christ ; that, in giving his life a ransom to law and justice, he is said to have obtained eternal redemption for us ; and that justice must require that all for whom he died be put in possession of that eternal redemption : 3 That Christ died to fulfil the condition of the covenant of re- demption ; but had his death, in fulfilling that condition, been for all mankind, divine faithfulness would have re- quired that the redemption promised in the covenant should be extended to all mankind : 4 That the apostle infers, from the greatness of God's love in delivering up his Son to the death for sinners, that he will not withhold from them any of the blessings of salvation ; but those are not conferred on all mankind ; we must therefore conclude, that he did not die for all mankind : 5 That the same apos- tle infers the certainty of our complete salvation by the life of Christ, from our reconciliation to God by his death ; but if his reasoning proves any thing, it proves that all man- kind were not reconciled to God by the death of Christ, since all are not saved by his life : 6 That we are told that the Father's design in making Christ a sin-offering for us, was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him ; but all mankind are not made righteous in him ; his death could not, therefore, be intended by God for all man- kind : 7 That our Lord's intercession proceeds on the ground 1 John x. 15-26, 27 ; Matt. xxv. 12. 2 Acts xx. 28; Eph. v. 25,26. 3 Tit. ii. 14, 15 ; Heb. ix. 12. * Isa. liii. 10. '■> Rom. viii. 32. 6 Rom v. 10. 7 2 Cor. v. 21. OF THE TESTIMONY. 133 of his sacrifice for sin ; they must therefore be of the same extent with regard to their objects ; but he does not pray for the world, but only for them who were given him out of the world ; his sacrifice must therefore be restricted to that definite number : x That the doctrine of his dying for all mankind, leads to the absurb notion that he shed his blood for many in vain : In fine, that the advocates for universal purchase also plead for conditional salvation, — or that God gave his Son to die for all, that the salvation of all might be possible, upon condition of their faith, repentance, and sin- cere obedience ; but to render this scheme consistent, God must have favoured all mankind with the means of faith, which is not the case ; we must conclude, therefore, that their scheme is not only unscriptural, but inconsistent with itself. We observe further, That the meaning of the universal terms used in reference to the death of Christ, is to be determined by the context, from which it appears that they refer, not to every individual, but sometimes to all classes and descriptions of men ; as when the atonement of Christ, which extends to some of all nations, is contrasted with the Levitical atonement, which was restricted to one na- tion ; 2 and in other passages where these terms are used, the reference is not to the intention of his death, nor to its ultimate effects with regard to individuals, but to the exhibition made of him in the gospel, as God's ordinance for salvation to all who hear it. 3 CHAPTER IX. OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL, AND THE GOSPEL CALL. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, x., and in opposition to the Neonomians, who maintain, that the Gospel is a new law, according to which faith, repent- ance, and sincere obedience, are the conditions of life ; and John xvii. 9. 2 Rom. iii. 22, 23, 29; 1 Tim. ii. 6. 3 1 John ii. 2. 134 DOCTRINAL PART that we are called to repent and forsake sin, in order to our coming to Christ; — and to the Baxterians, who restrict the Gospel call to sensible sinners, or those who are convinced of their sin and their need of the Saviour, and who feel certain desires after him, — we declare, That the law, in a strict and proper sense, consists of precepts and sanctions, the former prescribing rules of duty, and the latter denouncing penalties in case of disobedience ; that the gospel, in a strict sense, and as distinguished from the law, has neither precepts nor sanctions, but is a revelation of a free, full and ever- lasting salvation to sinners of mankind through the mediation of Christ ; that to teach that sinners are called to repent and forsake sin, in order to their com- ing to Christ, is to frustrate the grace of God, by mak- ing righteousness still to be by the works of the law ; and that to restrict the Gospel call to sensible sinners is a refined species of Arminianism, since it makes our access to Christ, and his salvation, to depend on something in ourselves, and not upon the free offer which God makes of him to sinners in the gospel. In support of this we observe, That the law is sometimes used in Scripture, in a large sense, for the whole of divine revelation; that the gospel also is sometimes used in a large sense, for all that Jesus began to do and teach until the time he was taken up into heaven ; that, in this sense, faith, repentance, and sincere obedience, belong to the gos- pel, not as a new law, but as acts of evangelical obedience to the moral law ; not as conditions of salvation, but as the effects of it wrought in us by the Spirit of Christ : That the Neonomian opinion of the gospel's being a new law, accord- ing to which faith, repentance, and sincere obedience are the conditions of life, implies that the original law given to man was too severe : That this opinion is at once opposed to the immutability of the divine law, and to the freedom and sovereignty of divine grace : l That the gospel is good news and glad tidings to perishing sinners of mankind, expressed in supernatural doctrines respecting the person and me- diation of Christ, in unconditional promises, and in free 1 Matt. v. 17, 18 ; Rom. iii. 31 ; ix. 11 ; Eph. ii. 8, 9. OF THE TESTIMONY. 135 offers of salvation through him i l That our Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled the condition of the covenant of grace, its promises, as tendered to us, are absolutely free : That some of them refer to the beginning, others to the progress, and others to the consummation, of salvation in the souls of men ; 2 which accounts for the conditional form in which some of them are expressed — those promises which refer to progress in salvation being addressed to per- sons already in a state of grace, and those which refer to its consummation, to persons who have made progress in holiness ; but that these attainments are mentioned, not as the conditions of the blessings promised, but only as char- acteristic of the persons to whom these promises are appli- cable, and to point out the relation they have to other pro- mises of which those persons are already in possession : 3 That this serves, in particular, to explain the connection between faith and an interest in the promises which refer to the progress and consummation of salvation ; that faith itself is the gift of God, — a promised blessing ; that it is the first principle of spiritual life, and the instrument by which we receive and realize all the promises which refer to the prpgress and consummation of that life ; and that it is for this reason that these promises are addressed to faith, and contain assurances of actual interest in the blessings pro- mised only to them who believe.* We»also observe, That God makes a free grant of Christ and salvation through him, in the offers of the Gospel, to sinners of mankind who hear it, without exception : That this grant is made in the Gospel offer as really to those who eventually reject it, as it is to those who eventually receive it ; and that, if this were not the case, the former class of Gospel hearers could not be condemned for their unbelief. 5 We further observe, That although the Gospel, strictly taken, contains in itself neither precepts nor sanctions ; yet, from the dignity and moral supremacy of its author, and the obligation which mankind, to whom it is addressed, are 1 Luke ii. 10 ; 1 Cor. xt. 1, 2 ; Rom. xi. 28; Tit. 1. 2 ; Acta xiii. 26. 2 Gal. iii. 18 ; 2 Cor. i. 20. 3 Job xvii. 9; Isa. xl. 31 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; Rev. iii. 12, 21. * Eph. ii. 8 ; Isa. xi. 10; Acts xiii. 38, 39 ; John xi. 25, 26. 5 John iii. 18, 19. 136 DOCTRINAL PART necessarily under, from the moral law, to believe whatever God may be pleased to reveal as a rule of faith ; it must come to all who hear it with, divine authority, binding them to receive and improve it for all the purposes of their salvation : l That this authority, which is only implied in the promises and offers of the Gospel, is expressed in its call ; and that the call of the Gospel, on this account, par- takes both of the nature of the Gospel, and of the Law ; of the Gospel, as it exhibits privilege, and of the Law, as it contains a divine injunction to improve it : 2 That the Gos- pel is not, on that account, a new law ; for the obligation to believe it, whether implied or expressed, does not spring formally from the Gospel itself, but from the moral law. under which Gospel hearers necessarily are, as rational and responsible agents : 3 That although it must be always the duty of sinners to repent and forsake sin, yet the Gospel call is not a call to do so in order to their coming to Christ ; for Christ, in his righteousness and salvation, is brought near to those who are stout-hearted, and far from righteous- ness : 4 That this call is not restricted to those who are con- vinced of their sin, and of their need of the Saviour ; for it is addressed to persons sunk in total insensibility as to their own miseries and wants : 5 Finally, we observe, That the universality of the Gospel call does not interfere with the doctrines of particular election and redemption ; that the objects of both of these must remain a secret in the mind of God till unfolded by their being actually brought into a state of salvation ; but that the call of the Gospel proceeds upon the general relation in which Christ stands to sinners of mankind, in distinction from fallen angels, as a kinsman redeemer, — the intrinsic value of his death for the redemp- tion of mankind sinners, however many and aggravated their transgressions may be, — and the suitableness of his offices for all the purposes of their salvation. 6 1 Heb. ii. 1,3. 2 Prov. i. 24, 25. 3 John v. 45, 46, 47; vii. 19. * Isa. i. 18 ; xlvi. 12, 13. 5 Rev. iii. 17, 18; John v. 25. 6 Ileb. ii. 16, 17; John iii. 16, 17; Matt, xviii. 11 ; Heb. vii. 24, 25. OF THE TESTIMONY. 137 CHAPTER X. OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE HOLT SPIRIT. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, x., and in opposition to the Arminians and others, who make the success of the Spirit's work in conversion to depend on the sinner's free will, and hold that there are no operations of the Spirit in conversion, which do not leave the sinner in such a state as that he may either comply with them or not, — WE DECLARE, That the application of salvation is the effect of divine power, and is ascribed in Scripture to the special operation of the Holy Spirit accompanying the means of grace upon the minds of men ; that, to represent the success of the Spirit's work in regeneration and conversion, as depending on the sinner's free will, is to make the divine will dependent on the human ; and that the change of the sinner's will is the effect and not the cause of the success of the Spirit's work in conversion, for it is God who worketh in him both to will and to do of his good pleasure. In proof of this we observe, That, in dealing with sin- ners by the external means of salvation, the Holy Spirit acts sovereignly in respect of the kind and degree of his influence with which these means are accompanied upon their minds ; and that there are common operations of the Spirit which produce convictions of sin by means of the law in the conscience, and joyous emotions, by means of the gospel in the affections of men in their natural state, which do not always issue in conversion t 1 That although the corruptions of the heart are opposed to these opera- tions, and often quench the effects produced by them, yet this does not arise from a want of power in the Spirit to overcome that opposition by following up his common by his special operations, so as to produce a saving change of heart, but that it must be referred wholly to his sovereignty 1 Acts xxiv. 25 ; Matt. xiii. 20, 21 ; Heb. vi. 4, 5. 138 DOCTRINAL PART in quickening whom he will : l That in conversion, the sinner is the subject of the special operation of the Spirit, which differs in kind and degree from those common operations which are not in their own nature saving ; and that it is by the saving operations of the Spirit that he is born again, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God : 2 That the special operation of the Spirit overcomes all opposition, and sweetly, yet powerfully, in- clines and determines the sinner to embrace Jesus Christ as he is freely offered in the gospel : 3 That the operation of the Spirit in conversion does not destroy man's natural liberty, nor pervert the natural order of the operations of the mind ; for by saving illumination, Christ and divine things become the most powerful motives in the under- standing, and the will, which always follows the most powerful motives, makes choice of them as the things that are most excellent ; — the will is not forced but inclined, — the sinner is not compelled to follow Christ against his will, but made willing in the day of his power: 4 That all this is the effect of no created power, but of the power of God's Spirit ; and of no common operations of the Spirit, but of his special operation, corresponding to the working of that mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead : 5 In fine, that the same saving operation of the Spirit which is necessary to conversion, is necessary to afford the believer new dis- coveries of the glory of Christ, to strengthen him with all might in the inner man, to direct him in the paths of righteousness, and to carry on the work of sanctification in his soul till he arrive at perfection : 6 1 Acts vii. 51. : John iii. 8. 2 Tit. iii. 5; John iii. 3, 5 ; Eph. ii. 10; i. 17, 18. 3 John vi. 44,45; Phil. ii. 13. * Ps. ex. 3. 5 Eph. i. 19. 6 John xvi. 13, 14 ; Eph. iii. 16 ; Rom. viii. 13, 14 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13. OF THE TESTIMONY. 139 CHAPTER XL OF JUSTIFICATION. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, xi., and in opposition to the Papists, who maintain that justifi- cation is by the infusing of righteous dispositions, and not by the imputation of righteousness ; to the Socinians and Pelagians, who maintain that we are justified solely by our own works ; and to the Neonomians, who plead for justification on the ground of faith, repentance, and sincere obedience as a new law, — we declare, That justification is a judicial act of God, and is not a change of heart, but of the sinner's state in relation to the law ; and that, in justification, God, by an act of free and sovereign grace, grants him the remission of all his sins, and receives his person into a state of favour and friendship, only on the ground of the righteousness of his own Son, which is imputed to him by God, and received by faith alone. In support of this we observe, That justification is op- posed in Scripture to condemnation, and that it must therefore be a change of the sinner's state, and not of his heart : l That as the person justified is by nature ungodly, it must include not only the acceptance of his person as righteous in the eye of the law, but also the re- mission of all his sins, original as well as actual : 2 That since God is a righteous judge, in justifying he must pro- ceed on the ground of a righteousness answering all the claims which his holy law has upon the sinner, both for obedience to its precept, and satisfaction to its penalty in- curred by transgression: 3 That as the law of God concludes all our fallen race under sin, so no man can be justified before God, in whole or in part, upon the ground of his own righteousness : 4 That the justification of the sinner before God is wholly on the ground of the righteousness of i Rom. viii. 33, 34. 2 Rom. iii. 25, 26 ; Acts siii. 39. 3 Exod. xxiii. 7 ; James ii. 10 ; Gal. iii. 10. 4 Rom. iii. 19, 20 ; Gal. ii. 16. 140 DOCTRINAL PART Christ as our surety, including his perfect obedience to the precept, and his complete satisfaction to the penalty of the divine law ; and that this righteousness becomes ours for our justification, by God imputing it to us, and our receiving it by faith alone r 1 That we are justified by faith, not as our act of obedience to the moral law, nor as a new law, else righteousness would still be by the works of the law, con- trary to the express declaration of Scripture, but purely as an instrument by which we receive the gift of righteous- ness exhibited to us in the gospel for our justification ; and that faith, so far from being of the nature of a meritorious condition in justification, is appointed by God as the in- strumental cause of it, that it may be by grace ; and that faith, as it justifies, is opposed to all works of ours what- ever: 2 That although justification is conferred on the ground of a mediatorial righteousness, it is purely of grace to the sinner, and that the rich grace of God is displayed, not only in justifying, but in providing the righteousness on the ground of which the sinner is justified, by the choice and mission of his own Son to satisfy the claims of the law in our stead : 3 That justification is an act of God, complete at once, so that the person who is pardoned and accepted can never more forfeit the divine favour, or come into condemnation ; that although after he is justified he may commit many sins in their own nature deserving of death, yet God having imputed to him the righteous- ness of Christ, will not impute the guilt of these sins so as to deal with him as an offended judge on their ac- count ; and that, whatever he suffers in the present life on account of sin, is corrective and not penal : 4 In fine, that justification by imputed righteousness is equally calculated to display the glory of divine grace, and to illustrate the glory of divine justice, since, according to it, the sinner is rescued from destruction, while the law is not only fulfilled, but magnified and made honourable . 5 1 Rom. iii. 24 ; x. 4 ; iv. 6 ; v. 1. 17. 2 Rom. iv. 16; Gal. ii. 15 ; Eph. ii. 8, 9. 3 Job xxxiii. 24 ; John iii. 17 ; Rom. viii. 3, 4. * Rom. viii. 1 ; Isa. liv. 9, 10 ; Rom. iv. 8; Ps. lxxxix. 31—33 Heb. xii. 6, 7. 5 Rom. iii. 25, 26 ; Pa. lxxxv. 10—13. OF THE TESTIMONY. 141 CHAPTER XII. OF THE FREEDOM OF BELIEVERS FROM THE LAW AS A COVE- NANT, AND THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF EVANGELICAL HOLLNESS. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, xvi., and in opposition to the following Neonomian errors, — That believers are under some obligation to perform obedience, as necessary to obtain and secure the favour of God ; or that holiness is a federal or conditional means of obtaining glory, or has some casual influence for that end : That the doctrine of the believer's complete freedom from the law, as a covenant, tends to licentiousness, and weakens the obligation of the law ; that a fear of falling under wrath, and hope of life, according to the tenor of the law- covenant, are necessary and warrantable motives to holy obedience ; and also, in opposition to the Antino* mians, who maintain that believers are not under obliga- tion to the law as a rule of life, — we declare, That although the moral law, having its foundation in God's supremacy and man's dependence, or the moral relations which necessarily subsist between God and his intelligent creature, must be of perpetual obliga- tion as a rule of life ; yet believers, by their justifi- cation through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, are set completely free from the law as a cove- nant of works ; that they are not required to perform obedience to the law as the condition of life, or to obtain or secure the acceptance of their persons with God, being accepted in his beloved Son, who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that belie veth ; that their freedom from the law in its cove- nant-form, instead of weakening, greatly strengthens their sense of obligation to it as a rule of righteousness, as it furnishes them with many additional motives to the study of holiness ; and that, although a filial fear of God is a powerful principle of holy obedience, yet a fear of falling under his wrath, and a hope of life, G 1 42 DOCTRINAL PART according to the tenor of the law of works, cannot be warrantable motives to obedience, as they proceed from a disposition to seek righteousness by the works of the law, which is pointedly condemned in Scripture ; and as they are incompatible with faith in God as our Father through Christ, and that perfect law which casts out slavish fear. In support of this we observe, That man was originally created under the moral law in its natural form : l That all mankind were brought under that law, in a covenant form, in Adam, holding out life as a reward of obedience, and denouncing death as the punishment of transgression ; for although Adam's covenant obedience was made to turn upon his not eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, yet his abstaining from it was to be the test of his obe- dience to the whole law ; and that, in violating the positive precept, he brake the whole moral-natural law, virtually summed up in it, and thereby entailed the curse upon himself, and all his natural posterity : 2 That, although the law of the covenant of works ceased to be a law that could give life to Adam, or his posterity, the moment the covenant was broken, not only from their inability to act up to its requirements, but also from the promise annexed to the keeping of it being forfeited by Adam's first sin, — yet as that law, so far as in its own nature moral, is of perpetual obligation, fallen men must still be under its commanding power, exacting from them individually perpetual obedi- ence, upon the pain of death for every act of disobedience ; and also under its penalty as incurred, not only by the first sin of Adam, as their federal representative, but also by their own personal transgressions : 3 That this is the law which Christ, as our surety, fulfilled in the room of his people ; that it is from the law, in this form, that believers are set free by their justification through his imputed right- eousness ; and that to shew the complete nature of this free- dom, we are told that Christ hath redeemed them from its curse, — that they are dead to the law through the body of Christ, — that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness 1 Rom. ii. 15. 2 Rom. v. 12, 17. 3 Rom. viii. 3, 8 ; Gal. iii. 10, 21. OF THE TESTIMONY. 143 to every one that believeth, — and that they are not under the law, but under grace. 1 We also observe, in opposition to the Antinomians, that although believers are completely delivered from the law in its covenant form, yet they are under it as a rule of right- eousness, in the hand of the Mediator — " not without ^law to God, but under the law to Christ ;" and that their obliga- tion to the study of holiness, so far from being lessened, is greatly increased from the dispensation of grace which they are under : 2 That they are bound to study holiness, not only in common with other rational creatures, from their dependence on God for their existence and daily preserva- tion, but also from their election of grace, — their redemp- tion through the blood of grace, — and their effectual voca- tion : 3 That, although the law does not require obedience from believers in order to obtain life or to avoid condemna- tion, these ends being effectually secured by the obedience and death of Christ, yet conformity to it is necessary in their case, from the authority of God requiring it, as an evidence of their interest in Christ — as a principal part of salvation — and as rendering them meet for the enjoyment of God, both here and hereafter : 4 That true holiness is of an evangelical nature ; that it does not spring from a slavish fear of God's vindictive wrath, or a servile hope of life, on the ground of our own works, but from faith in God as our covenant God through Christ — a filial reverence of God as our Father in heaven — supreme love of God, and delight in him, as our present and everlasting portion — gratitude to him for Christ and salvation through him — and a supreme desire to promote the ends of his glory ; 5 and, that it is promoted by the powerful considerations of the love of the Father, in sending his Son to save us — the love of Christ, in giving his life to redeem us — the love of the Spirit, in coming to apply salvation unto us and the hope of a blessed immortality in Heaven. 6 We observe further, 1 Matt. v. 17 ; Gal. iii. 13 ; Rom. vii. 4 ; x. 4 ; vi. 14. 2 1 Cor. ix. 21 ; Rom. vi. 1, 2. 3 Eph. i. 4 ; 1 Cor. vi. 20 ; 1 Thess. iv. 7 ; 1 Pet. i. 14, 25. * 1 John ii. 4 ; Psal. cxix. 4 ; John xv. 5-14 ; Rom. viii. 10 ; 2 Cor. v. 17 ; Tit. ii. 14 ; iii. 5, 6 ; Matt. v. 8; Heb. xii. 14. 5 Luke i. 74 ; 1 John iv. 18 ; Rom. viii. 15 ; Deut. x. 20, 21 ; 1 Peter i. 17; Matt. xxii. 37; 1 John iv. 19 ; 1 Cor. x. 31. 6 John iv. 8, 9 ; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15 ; Eph. iv. 30 ; 1 John iii. 3, 4. 144 DOCTRINAL PART That freedom from the law in its old covenant form, and union to Christ, the head of the new covenant, are abso- lutely necessary to a life of holiness j 1 that the law leaves us under its curse, and lying under the power of spiritual death, and consequently destitute of power to do that which is spiritually good ; that it produces, in the conscience of the natural man, a dread of God, as an avenging judge, and, instead of subduing, is the occasion of irritating his corruptions ; and that the works performed under the in- fluence of these principles are dead works, and cannot be acceptable to God ; 2 Finally, That it is only by union to Christ, that our persons and services are accepted ; that it is from him we derive strength for duty, grace to overcome temptation, and whatever is necessary to the perfecting of holiness in the fear of God. 3 CHAPTER XIII. ON SAVING FAITH AND EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. xiv. and in opposition to those who maintain, that saving faith is no more than a simple or general belief of the doctrine of the gospel, that assurance is not of the nature of faith, and that we must repent of our sins before we come to Christ, TVE DECLARE, That saving faith is a supernatural principle wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit, whereby the person who believes, assents to the testimony of God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ, in the Gospel, not only as in- fallibly true, but also as containing a free grant to him of Christ, and all salvation through him, and by which he receives and rests on Christ, as his own Saviour, 1 Rom. vii. 4; Gal. ii. 19. 1 Rom. vii. 7, 8 ; ir. 15 ; Heb. ix. 14. 3 Eph. i. 6 ; 1 Peter ii. 5 ; John xr. 4 ; Phil. iv. 13 ; 2 Cor. xii. 9 ; Col. ii. 19. OF THE TESTIMONY. 145 upon the footing of that grant; and that, although legal sorrow precedes saving faith, yet evangelical repentance, or godl y sorrow for sin, and turning from it unto God, always flow from it. In support of this we observe, That although saving faith gives full credit to the whole word of God, on the authority of God himself speaking to us in the Scriptures ; and although it is exercised about its various parts, accord- ing to their nature and our necessities, yet its principal acts are "receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel:" 1 That, as the gospel does not consist merely of historical facts, or abstract doctrines respecting the Saviour, but also contains in it a free offer of salvation, through him. to sinners of mankind without exception, who hear it, for their acceptance ; so the faith of the gospel, in order that it may correspond with the testimony believed, must include in its nature appro- priation: 2 That the appropriation, which is of the nature of faith, is not a persuasion that Christ and salvation are ours in actual possession, but that he is ours in the offer or grant which God makes of him to us in the gospel ; and that it is a claim to him, as our own Saviour, upon the foundation of that grant: 3 That the appropriation which is in faith is evidently implied, when faith is described in Scripture as receiving Christ, putting on the Lord Jesus, eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, fleeing to him for refuge, trusting in and staying ourselves on him.* "We further observe, That as the testimony on which saving faith rests is infallible, being the testimony of God, who cannot lie, so it must include in it assurance ; and that if this were not the case, it would not be a receiving of the gospel, as it is in truth the word of God and not the word of man : 5 That although the believer is often subject to doubting, being weak in faith, and although he may not be conscious in the meantime of his believing ; yet in faith itself, when exercised, there is always assurance, 1 Gal. ii. 20 ; Rom. x. 17. 2 John i. 12 ; Is. xxvi. 3, 4. 3 1 John v. 11 ; iv. 16: 1 Tim. i. 15. 4 John i. 12 ; Rom. xiii. 14 ; John vi. 53 ; Heb. vi. 18. 5 1 Thess. ii. 13 ; 1 Cor. ii. 4. 146 DOCTRINAL PART according to its measure or degree : And that there is a marked distinction between the assurance of faith and the assurance of sense ; — the former having for its object the faithfulness of God in the gospel testimony, and being, in some degree, the attainment of every true Christian ; whereas the latter has for its object the existence of a gracious work in the soul, and is not always enjoyed by the believer. 1 We observe further, That evangelical repentance is a true sense of sin, and sorrow for it, not merely as it exposes us to danger, but on account of its contrariety to the nature and will of God, and a turning from sin to God, with full purpose of and endeavour after new obedience: 2 That although legal sorrow precedes faith, yet evangelical repentance flows from it, as it proceeds both from the knowledge of sin by the law, and from an apprehension of the mercy of God through Christ, as exhibited in the Gospel; that convictions of sin by the law excite a terror of God, as an avenging judge ; that a slavish fear of God, instead of subduing the enmity of the heart against him, increases it: 3 That the faith of pardoning mercy through the blood of Christ slays that enmity ; that the believer, overcome by the kindness of God his Saviour, is filled with real compunction for the dishonour done to God by his sin ; and that this accords with those passages of Scripture where repentance is represented as springing from faith in God as our covenant God, and looking upon Christ as wounded for our transgressions: 4 Finally, that any change produced by legal sorrow for sin, extends only to the outward conduct, and is partial and temporary, whereas evangelical repentance is always productive of a thorough and lasting change of heart and conversation. 5 1 John vi. 69 ; iii. 33; 2 Cor. xiii. 5. 2 Ps. li. 4 ; Hosea xiv. 8. 3 Rom. vii. 10, 11. 4 Ezek. xvi. 62, 63 ; 2 Cor. v. 19 ; Mark i. 15 ; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19; Zech. xii. 10. 5 2 Pet. ii. 22 ; 1 Thess. i. 9, 10. OF THE TESTIMONY. 147 CHAPTER XIV. OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. xvii. and in opposition to the Arminians and others, who maintain, that the saints may fall totally and finally from a state of grace, and that the doctrine of their perseverance is unfriendly to holiness, — we declare, That those whom God has accepted in his Son, and effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, shall neither totally nor finally fall away from a state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. In proof of this we observe, That the truth of this doctrine appears from the irreversible nature of their pardon and acceptance in justification ; from the perpetuity which the Scripture ascribes to that life implanted in them in their regeneration ; from the connection stated between their effectual vocation, and their glorification ; from the character of perfection which belongs to all the works of God ; and from the numerous promises which secure their growth in grace and their perseverance: 1 and that their perseverance proceeds not from their own free will, but from the immutability of God's love in their election ; the efficacy of the death of Christ for their eternal redemption ; the perpetuity and prevalence of his intercession ; the continual inhabitation of the Holy Spirit, and the unchangeable nature of God's covenant with them in Christ. 2 We further observe that the Scripture doctrine of perseverance connects the means and the end in the purpose of God, in which we were chosen to salvation as the end, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, as the means leading to that end ; that these are 1 Rom. viii. 1 ; Isaiah liv. 9, 10 ; John x. 28, 29 ; 1 Pet. i. 23, 24, 25 ; Rom. viii. 30; Phil. i. 6 ; Ps. xcii. 12, 13, 14 ; Job xvii. 9. 2 Jer. x. 23 ; Matt. xxiv. 21 ; 2 Tim. ii. 19 ; Jer. xvii. 7, 8 ; Heb. ix. 12; Ueb. vii. 25; Luke xxii. 32; Eph. iv. 30; Jer. xxxii. 10. 148 DOCTRINAL PART connected by Him in carrying the purpose into effect, for we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ; and that from this connexion, the Scripture doctrine of perseverance, instead of tending to licentiousness, is one of the most powerful motives to a holy life, as it holds out the certain prospect of final success in the Lord. 1 CHAPTER XV. OF THE STATE OF MEN AFTER DEATH. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, xxxii. and in opposition to the purgatory of the Papists ; — to the Deists and others, who deny the doctrine of the resurrec- tion altogether, or that the same body which is buried will be raised from the grave; — to the Universalists, who maintain that the wicked, after suffering a limited period in hell, will be liberated and introduced into a state of happiness ; and to the modern opinion, that the punishment of the wicked in a future state will be restricted to remorse, despair, and the workings of their own sinful passions, and that it will not proceed in any degree from positive infliction on the part of God, — we declare, That there is no intermediate state, the souls of believers at death entering immediately into heaven, and the souls of the wicked into hell ; that there will be a re- surrection of the just, and of the unjust, and that the same body which was buried will be raised, though different in qualities ; that the state of man is finally determined at death, so that after it he must be either eternally happy or eternally miserable ; and, that the misery of the wicked in hell will arise, not merely from the operations of their own sinful passions, but from their being externally excluded from all gracious intercourse with God, as the chief good, and subjected to all the painful effects of his judicial displeasure. 1 2 Thess. ii. 13; 1 Pet. i. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 58. OF THE TESTIMONY. 149 In proof of which, we observe, That it is evident from our Lord's parable of the rich man and Lazarus, from his declaration to the penitent thief on the cross, and from various other passages of Scripture, that at death the souls of believers immediately pass into heaven, and that the souls of the wicked are immediately cast into hell r 1 That there will be a universal resurrection, both of the righteous and the wicked, at the second coming of Christ — of the for- mer to the judgment of life, and of the latter to the judg- ment of condemnation : That the identical body which was buried will be raised, though different in qualities ; for, if this were not the case, it would not be a resurrection but a creation : and that this is plainly stated in Scripture when we are told that the same body, which was sown a natural body, in weakness, dishonour, and corruption, will be raised a spiritual body, in incorruption, in power, and in glory. 2 We observe further, in opposition to the Universalists, that their doctrine supposes that the sufferings of the wick- ed are corrective and purifying, whereas the Scriptures re- present them as penal and destructive — " the day of judg- ment" is the day of " the perdition of ungodly men," a term which signifies irretrievable ruin — the wicked " shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- sence of the Lord : " 3 That their sufferings, if penal, must be eternal ; for sin is an evil of infinite desert, and no crea- ture can endure infinite punishment in any limited period of duration ; their punishment, therefore, is to be for ever and ever, in that place where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched :* That their restoration to a state of felicity without holiness, is in the nature of things impossi- ble, but that those penal sufferings, of which sinful creatures are the subjects, instead of mollifying and sanctifying, are invariably the occasion of hardening them in wickedness : 5 That if creatures could have satisfied for their own sins, the substitution of Christ, and his sufferings, must have 1 Luke xvi. 22, 23; xxiii. 43; Acts vii. 59 ; 2 Cor. v. 8. 2 John v. 28, 29 ; Job xix. 25, 26; Phil. iii. 20, 21 ; 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43, 44. 3 2 Pet. iii. 7 ; 2 Thess. i. 9. * Mark ix. 43—48 ; Rev. xx. 10. 5 Rev. xvi. 9, 11, 21 ; Dan. v. 22 ; Amos iv. 6—12 ; Ps. xcv. 8. G2 150 DOCTRINAL PART been in vain ; and that the Scriptures assure us, that for those who reject his sacrifice there remaineth no other method of satisfaction for sin : l That it has never been questioned that the happiness of the saints in heaven will be without end, and that this is signified by the term eternal, but that the same term is applied to the punishment of the wicked, — " These shall go into (aiaviov) everlasting pun- ishment, but the righteous into life (aiwviov) eternal:" 2 That, granting the term everlasting sometimes to signify the whole duration of a certain economy or constitution of things, it will make nothing in support of the doctrine of the Universalists, since it is applied to the punishment of the wicked after time, when there is no division of dura- tion, but absolute eternity : 3 In fine, that the doctrine of universal restoration is of immoral tendency, as it holds out to the sinner the prospect of ultimate deliverance from misery in the way of continuing in the practice of sin. We further observe, that although remorse, despair, and the workings of their own sinful passions, will prove great sources of misery to the wicked in a future state, they will not constitute, in a strict sense, their punishment, for pun- ishment implies the positive infliction of a judge : 4 That the Scriptures uniformly teach us that the wicked in a future state will be subjected to the wrath of God, which evidently implies positive infliction on his part :* That to limit their sufferings to remorse, despair, and what arises from their own sinful passions, is virtually to deny that Christ endured the curse of the law in the room of his peo- ple, for neither remorse, despair, nor any of the misery that springs from the workings of sinful passions entered into his sufferings ; and that, for this reason, the doctrine is of dangerous tendency, as it strikes at the foundation of one of the leading articles of the Christian faith. 1 Heb. x. 26, 27. 2 Matt. xxv. 46. 3 Matt. xxv. 41. 4 Heb. x. 30 j James iv. 12. 5 Matt. x. 28 : Ps. xi. 6. OF THE TESTIMONY. 151 CHAPTER XVI. OF MORAL-NATURAL, AND INSTITUTED WORSHIP. In opposition to those who reject certain religious duties, such as vowing and swearing to God, because they have not a positive institution in Scripture, — we declare, That although the will of God is the reason of our duty in every thing relating to his worship, yet his will, with regard to the manner in which he is to be wor- shipped, has been made known to mankind in diffe- rent ways — as by the moral law, originally engraven on the heart of man, commonly called the law of na- ture — by the moral law as revealed in the Scripture — and by positive institution ; and that in whatever way his will has been signified, it must be binding upon the conscience ; that there are certain acts of religion which spring from those moral relations, which neces- sarily subsist between God and his intelligent crea- tures, or which have their foundation in moral-natu- ral law, such as prayer, praise, fasting, an oath, and vowing to God : and that there are other acts of wor- ship which do not spring from these relations, and have not their foundation in moral-natural law, such as circumcision and the passover, under the former, and Baptism and the Lord's Supper, under the pre- sent dispensation ; and that duties of the former class, being in their nature moral, need no institution dis- tinct from the moral law itself, natural or revealed, to give them authority as acts of religious worship, whereas those of the latter class derive their matter and form, as well as their authority, solely from posi- tive institution. In support of these statements we observe, That the law of nature engraven upon man's heart, in his original crea- tion, was from God, as well as the moral law written on tables of stone ; and that though greatly effaced by the en- trance of sin, its dictates are binding on the conscience : That, unless this be admitted, those who never enjoyed the written law cannot be chargeable with actual sin, for where 152 DOCTRINAL PART there is no law there is no transgression r 1 That we find no account in the Scriptures of any supernatural revelation of the moral law, as it regards the worship of God, till the time of Moses ; but, prior to that period, the patriarchs ob- served the several acts of moral worship, and among others vowing to God, from which we may infer that, in doing so, they followed the dictates of nature : 2 That this act of wor- ship has its foundation in natural law is also evident, from its being practised by the Gentiles, who never enjoyed the written law : 3 That those who reject vowing and swearing to God, because they have no positive institution, like Bap- tism and the Lord's Supper, mistake the nature of these duties ; for being in their own nature moral, they need no such institution ; and that, upon the same ground, prayer and praise might be set aside as parts of worship, for these also have no institution different from the moral law, natu- ral or revealed : That the acts of moral-natural worship, springing from those moral relations which necessarily sub- sist between Qod and his intelligent creatures, must be of perpetual obligation ; but that acts of instituted worship, springing purely from the will of God, may be set aside by him at pleasure, as was the case with regard to the whole ceremonial ritual upon the introduction of the New Dispen- sation : 4 That Baptism and the Lord's Supper, though acts of instituted worship, are to continue in the Church till the end of time, by the express appointment of Christ : 5 Finally, That although praise, prayer, vowing, and swearing to God, have their foundation in ^natural religion and law, and therefore must be binding on mankind in general, as sub- jects of the moral government of God ; yet they cannot be performed acceptably by fallen men, without the knowledge of the doctrines of supernatural revelation, or faith in the mediation of Christ. 6 1 Rom. iv. 15. 2 Rom. v. 13 ; Gen. xxviii. 20. 3 Jonah i. 16. * Eph. ii. 15. 5 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 26. « Eph. i. 6 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5. OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 53 CHAPTER XVII. OF THE ACTS OF MORAL-NATURAL WORSHIP. Sect. I. — Of Prayer. In opposition to the Papists, Episcopalians, and others, ■who plead for the use of a Liturgy, or prescribed and restricted forms of prayer; and also to the superstitious and idolatrous practices of the Papists, in addressing prayers to angels and departed saints, and offering up prayers for the dead, — we declare, That, although all scripture is of use to direct us in prayer, especially that pattern of it commonly called the Lord's Prayer, yet prescribed and restricted forms of prayer have no warrant, either from Scripture precept, or example ; that prayer for the dead is grossly superstitious ; and that addressing prayer to angels or departed saints, is gross impiety. In support of this, we observe, That what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer, was evidently not intended by Christ as a set form, but only as a directory with regard to the matter and manner of prayer, as appears from the variation of the phraseology in the account given of it by the different inspired evangelists, and also from the intro- ductory sentence, "After this manner pray ye:" 1 That prescribed and restricted forms of prayer set limits to the Spirit, as the Spirit of grace and supplication, who helps our infirmities, by directing us what to pray for, and how to present our petitions to God's throne: 2 That set forms of prayer, from the frequent repetition of them, tend to cool the ardour of devotion, and lead to formality, not only in words, but also in the frame of the mind in the worship of God : That acceptable prayer is the offering up of the desires of the heart to God ; but no form prescribed by others can in all cases be adequate for expressing these in 1 Matt. vi. 9—13 ; Luke xi. 2, 3, 4. 2 Rom. viii. 26, 27. 154 DOCTRINAL PART prayer: 1 That no restricted form of prayer can possibly answer all the changes of circumstances, not only in the case of individuals, but also of' families, nations, and churches ; and yet in reference to all these, we are com- manded by prayer and supplications to let our requests be made known to God : 2 That although the pastor is to act as the mouth of the congregation in addressing God's throne in public worship, yet this is neither equivalent to prescribed forms of prayer, nor does it furnish an argument for them, — for, in the exercise of his ministerial function, he has the promise of the gift of prayer, as well as other ministerial gifts, for the public edification of the church: 3 And that set forms of prayer furnish a strong temptation to persons, both in public and private stations, altogether to neglect the gift of it. Further, we observe, That the state of man being finally determined at death, prayer for the dead is utterly unwarrantable, and countenances the unscriptural doctrine of purgatory: And finally, that addressing prayer to angels or departed saints is a direct violation of the first precept of the moral law. 4 Sect. II. — Of Praise, and the Psalmody. In opposition to those who maintain that many of the Psalms of David are inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel, and who substitute hymns of human composition in their room in the public worship of God, — we declare, That although there are other Scripture songs besides those contained in the book of Psalms, yet the latter seem to have been especially intended by God to be used in the exercise of public praise, from their being- delivered to the church by the Holy Spirit for that purpose ; that to assert there is any thing in these psalms inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel, is to suppose that the Holy Spirit may act at variance with himself, for both were given by his inspiration ; and 1 Prov. xiv. 10 ; 1 Kings viii. 38 ; Matt. xii. 34. 2 Phil. iv. 6. 3 1 Cor. xii. ; Acts vi. 4. * Exod. xx. 3; Col. ii. 18 ; Rev. xxii. 9. OF THE TESTIMONY. 155 that to introduce hymns of human composition, or even paraphrases, in which undue liberties are taken with the original text, tends to endanger the purity both of the worship and doctrines of the church. For illustration, we observe, That although all are sup- posed to join in the public prayers of the church, yet only one acts immediately as the mouth of the congregation, in addressing the object of prayer ; whereas, in celebrating His praises in public, every individual is to be directly and immediately engaged, which cannot be done with unity and harmony without a set form, with which the whole assembly are acquainted: 1 That the Psalms of David are adapted to the use of the church, under the present as well as the former dispensation, appears from their moral nature, — from the few references they have to a ceremonial ritual, and the many references they have to the person, offices, and work of Christ, and to the rise, progress, and glory of his kingdom, — from their sublimity, spirituality, and fitness to express the most ardent and exalted devo- tional exercises of the heart, — from the fervent piety which breathes through the whole, — and from the extensive range of subjects, adapted to the variety of circumstances in which the church and her particular members may be placed : That none of the psalms give countenance to private quarrels or personal revenge ; that such of them as have been supposed to do so, are prophetical, or contain denunciations of God's righteous judgments on his implac- able enemies; and that similar denunciations occur not unfrequently in the New Testament: 2 That the use of these psalms in New Testament times is sanctioned by the precept and example of our Lord and his apostles ; and that, when songs and hymns are spoken of in the New Testament along with psalms, there is no evidence that different compositions from the Psalms of David are intended, for some of these are styled songs, and others hymns, from the subjects of which they treat, or the occasion on which they were to be sung: 3 Finally,' 1 - That as praise is a part of moral worship, and peculiarly adapted 1 1 Cor. sir. 26. J 1 Cor. xvi. 22 ; Rev. fi 10. 3 Eph. t. 19 ; CoL iii. 16 ; James v. 13 ; Matt. rsvi. 30. 156 DOCTRINAL PART to New Testament times, if it had been intended by the Spirit of God. that the use of the Psalms of David was to be set aside, there is reason to think that some intimation would have been given to that effect in the New Testa- ment, and another psalmody provided in their room. Sect. III. — Of Oaths, Vows, and Religious Covenants. 1. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, xxii. and in opposition to the Quakers, and others, who deny the warrantableness of an oath ; and also to the prac- tice of those who enter into oaths on trivial occasions, and without being previously acquainted with the matter and object of them, — we declare, That an oath is a solemn act of moral worship, in which the person swearing calls God to witness his sincerity in what he asserts or promises, and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he swears; that an oath is only to be taken in the name of God, on weighty occasions, in judgment, with regard to the matter and object of it, and, in truth, without equivocation or mental reservation ; and that, being in its nature moral, it must, when required and im- posed by lawful authority, be warrantable under every dispensation. In support of this we observe, That an oath for confir- mation is warranted by the third precept of the moral law, and sanctioned by approved examples under the former dispensation: That, when our Lord and his apostles prohibit swearing, it is either false or profane swearing, or swearing by creatures: 1 That the circumstances of society, both civil and religious, render such an appeal to God necessary under the present, as well as under the former dispensation, and that the warrantableness of it is ex- pressly recognised in the New Testament: 2 That an appeal to God by oath in trivial matters is a taking of the name of God in vain; and that swearing to things unknown or of a doubtful nature, is a direct violation of God's law, and 1 Matt. t. 33—36. 2 Heb. vi. 16. OF THE TESTIMONY. 157 calculated to involve the swearer in the heinous sin of per- jury: 1 Finally, That, as lifting up the hand is the usual mode of swearing mentioned in Scripture, so it ought to be preferred ; and that all superstitious, and especially idola- trous forms, are sinful. 2 2. In support of the doctrine of the Confession, chap. xxii. sect. 5, 6, 7, and in opposition to the sentiments of those who deny the warrantableness of explicit vowing to God, and particularly of public religious covenanting; and who maintain that public covenanting under the former dispen- sation was a ceremonial observance or Jewish peculiarity, or that its use is superseded, under the New Testament, by the observance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, — we DECLARE, That an explicit vow is a solemn promise to God : that it may be entered into either personally or socially, or with or without an oath ; that it may have, for the matter of it, either necessary duties, or other things not expressly required, so far, and so long, as they may be conducive to the better performance of these duties ; and that, in both cases^ the person vowing brings himself under obligation by his vow : That public religious covenanting, along with a social vow to God, includes confederation among the covenanters themselves, to aid and support one another to carry into effect the object of their vow ; and that, since both have their foundation in natural principles and law, they cannot be Jewish peculiarities, but must be equally adapted to the patriarchal, the Mosaic, and Christian dispensations. In proof of this we observe, That implicit vowing enters into every part of religious worship; it cannot, therefore, be unwarrantable to engage in it explicitly when circum- stances require it : That vowing and swearing unto God, whether personal or social, have their foundation in natural law ; that they are evidently authorised by the three first precepts of the Decalogue, and expressly enjoin- ed by other moral precepts in Scripture ; and, that they 1 Ps. xxiv. 4. 2 R ev> x> 5 6. 158 DOCTRINAL PART are sanctioned by the approved example of the people of God in every age. 1 We observe further, That public religious covenanting is not a ceremonial observance, for it was practised at Horeb, before the ceremonial law was given to Israel ; and that it cannot be a Jewish peculiarity, since it was predicted in ancient prophecy, that it should be practised by the Gentiles in New Testament times: 2 That those who maintain that the use of social vowing and swearing unto God is now su- perseded by the observance of Baptism and the Lord's Sup- per, obviously mistake the nature and primary ends both of social vows and of the sacraments : that vowing and swear- ing unto God are in their own nature moral, but that the Gospel, and its institutions, do not make void the law, which would be the case, if the positive institutions of Bap- tism and the Lord's Supper set aside these duties: 3 that the same implicit vowing which enters into the observance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, entered into the obser- vance of Circumcision and the Passover; and that, if it rendered explicit vowing unnecessary in the one case, it must have done so also in the other : That, although the duties and ordinances of religion have all some things in common, yet they are specifically different, so that no one of them can answer the primary intention of another ; that confirmation is that in which social vowing and the sacra- ments principally coincide, yet, in this particular, they differ with respect to their immediate object or primary end; for the primary end of the sacraments is, the confirmation on the part of God of his grant to us of all the blessings of his covenant; 4 whereas the primary end of social vowing, is the confirmation on our part of our allegiance to him, and our joint adherence to his cause. 5 4. In opposition to those who deny the warrantableness of national religious covenanting, — we declare, That, although public religious covenanting is a duty peculiarly suited to the Church, and which can be per- 1 Ps. lxxvi. 11 ; Gen. xxviii. 20 ; Ps. cxxxii. 2 ; Num. xxi. 2. 2 Exod. xix. 8 ; xxiv. 3, 7; Isa. xix. 18—21 ; xlv. 23, 24 ; Jer. I. 4, 5. 3 Rom. iii. 31. * Luke xxii. 19, 20 ; Acts ii. 38. 3 Exod. xxiv. 7 ; Psal. cxix. 106. OF THE TESTIMONY. 159 formed acceptably only in the faith of the supernatural doctrines of the Gospel committed to her ; and al- though, in all cases wherein it is practicable, her func- tionaries should take the lead in the service, by fram- ing the bonds and administering the oaths ; yet, as religious covenanting has its foundation in moral-na- tural law, which is common to mankind in general, it is not exclusively an ecclesiastical ordinance : That as nations, as such, are the subjects of God's moral government, so they must have a religious character ; that when favoured with the knowledge of superna- tural religion, they are bound to recognise and embrace it ; and that this being admitted, it must follow, that, as Christian nations, they may warrantably enter into national engagements to employ every means compe- tent to them, and suited to its nature, for its defence and propagation. In support of this we observe, That as men, in their so- cial state, as well as individuals, are the subjects of God's moral government, and as such bound to devote their seve- ral stations and relations in life to the honour of God, by employing them in subserviency to the interests of pure and undefiled religion; so it must be competent to the several classes of which a nation is composed, to enter into a solemn vow to God, and to confederate with one another, to employ the combined influence of their several stations for the better effecting of that end: That the covenants of God's ancient people were national deeds, and that this did not arise from any peculiarity of the economy they were under, but from all ranks and classes of the nation being comprehended in them : That national covenantingis neither inconsistent with the spirit nor the letter of those predic- tions in the Old Testament, which refer to the practice of the duty in New Testament times ; that nations are cities on a larger scale ; but we are told, that "five cities in the land of Egypt shall speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of Hosts," and that " they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it;" that we are told, that " the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ," which must refer to their public and joint profession ; that we are also told, that 160 DOCTRINAL PART " the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory;" but the connexion leads us to conclude, that they shall do so in the way of national covenanting. 1 4. In opposition to those who deny that National Cove- nants can be renewed unless it be done nationally, — we DECLARE, That as in national vows for promoting religious refor- mation in countries where the Church is in an or- ganised state, she is supposed to take the lead in the service, the civil authorities of the nation, and the body of the people concurring with her, and enter- ing into the oaths ; and as these vows must be binding in all moral respects, not only upon the nation as a whole, but also upon the several parts of which it is composed ; so it must be competent to the Church, or any part of her adhering to the covenanted cause, though a -minority of the nation, when the majority, including their rulers, refuse to concur in the service, to renew these vows ecclesiastically, by recognising their continued obligation, and entering into a bond suited to her circumstances, to prosecute the ends of them.* In support of the above statement we observe, That the renewal of national covenants, even by a minority of the nation which originally entered into them, is sanctioned by the approved example of God's ancient people : That all their covenanting with God, after they entered the land of Canaan, reduplicated upon the federal transaction of the twelve tribes at Horeb : That, after the apostacy of the ten tribes, the tribe of Judah, though a minority of the original nation of Israel which covenanted at Horeb, renewed that covenant in the days of Asa, Jehoiada, Hezekiah, and Josiah ; and that this was done by them, not only when they had a king of their own nation to take a lead in the service, but also when under a foreign yoke, as appears 1 Isa. xix. 18—21 ; Rev. xi. 15 ; Jer. iv. 1, 2. * For a more particular account of National Covenanting, and that which is purely Ecclesiastical, and the distinction between them, see above, pp. 79, 80. OF THE TESTIMONY. 161 from the covenanting of the captives after their return from Babylon. 1 In opposition to those who deny the present seasonable- ness of public religious covenanting, or who leave it unde- cided whether it is seasonable at present or not, — we DECLARE, That, although public religious covenanting is not an ordinary duty, yet it is a service eminently called for at present from the circumstances of the church and the nation to which we belong. In support of this assertion we observe, That nature it- self teaches, that if we have violated a lawful covenant, it is dutiful to renew it with an acknowledgment of our sin in having broken it : That all ranks in these lands having departed in principle and practice from a reformation for- merly attained, and violated the vows by which it was consolidated, the renovation of these is highly seasonable as a means of awakening the present generation to a sense of their sin and danger, and of exciting them to remember whence they have fallen, and to do the first works : That as one end of social covenanting is the confirmation of Chris- tians in the present truth, so it must be a seasonable ser- vice at present, when the great body of Christians are like children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, and when error is coming in upon the Church like a flood : That the great alienation of affection, and mutual jealousies, which prevail among professed Christians, call loudly for this service, as a means eminently calculated to restore public confidence, to heal divisions, and to cement religious society: That as all ranks in these lands are bound by the vows of their ancestors to adhere to the Westminster formularies as standards of uniformity, and as there is a strong tendency at present to union, to the prejudice of these standards, — so to counteract that tendency, and to give the disposition for union a proper direction, the friends of the reformation have a special call to renew the pledge of adherence to them given by their reforming ancestors : That, as public reli- gious covenanting was a means remarkably blessed by God 1 2 Chron. xv. 12, 13, 14, 15; xxiii. 16 j xxix. 10 ; xxxir. 29—34; Neh. ix. 38 ; x. 162 DOCTRINAL PAET in the days of our fathers, for delivering these lands from anti-christian tyranny and superstition, and for carrying on a work of reformation, — so the danger to which the Refor- mation interest in these lands is exposed, from the rapid increase of Popery, and the countenance it is receiving from persons of all ranks, is a special call in Providence to all the friends of the Reformation to come forward and renew the federal deeds of our ancestors, which have so often proved the bulwarks of our civil and religious liberties, as a special means of preventing us from being again brought under the yoke of Rome : Finally, that it is the business of the Church to point out the seasons when this duty is especially called for, and doctrinally and judicially to inculcate the practice of it ; and that, to admit its morality, and yet to leave the seasonableness of it undetermined, or to make the performance or non-performance of it matter of judicial forbearance, is to act in direct opposition to the commandment of Christ, " Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Matt, xxviii. 20. 6. In opposition to those who deny that social vows hav- ing a permanent object, are of perpetual obligation, and who restrict their obligation to example, or found it upon their success as a means of transmitting privilege, — we declahe, That the obligation arising from example is not covenant- obligation, but an obligation to covenant when placed in similar circumstances ; that the obligation pleaded for is the obligation of a social vow or promissory oath; that the obligation of a vow arises from the vow itself; and does not depend upon its consequences ; that as social vowing proceeds upon the principle, that society, whether civil or ecclesiastical, when regularly con- stituted, is the subject of God's moral government as well as individual persons, and, as such, capable of social engagements and public faith, — so the perpetual obligation of social vows having a permanent object, proceeds upon the principle, that society thus consti- tuted is recognised both by God and men, as a permanent body, whose identity is unaffected by the change of individuals ; and that it is upon these prin- OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 63 ciples that we maintain the continued obligation of the National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Covenant of the three nations, upon all ranks in these lands, to the latest posterity. The Scriptures clearly teach, that organised society i3 re- cognised by God as a permanent body, and possessed of continued moral identity ;' that society accumulates guilt from age to age ; 2 that God punishes posterity in the social state, even at a distant period, for crimes committed by their ancestors ; 3 and that he recognises posterity as under the obligation of the vows of ancestors, and punishes them for the violation of these vows : 4 That the doctrine pleaded for, as applied to civil leagues or contracts, has never been disputed ; nor could society of any kind exist without act- ing on this principle : That although the success of social vows and covenants, as a means of transmitting religious and civil privileges to posterity, greatly aggravates the sin of those who slight them, and deny their obligation ; yet it is not the proper ground of that obligation : That, if the deeds themselves are lawful and their object permanent, they must be of perpetual obligation upon the society which enters into them, though not followed with success : That, to make the obligation of a vow or promissory oath to de- pend upon its consequences, is to cut asunder the sinews both of civil and religious society, by destroying public con- fidence : 5 Finally, that it is not sufficient to say, in opposi- tion to the continued obligation of the federal deeds of an- cestors, that since the covenanting at Horeb, God has not invested society with representing power ; for every so- ciety, from its nature and constitution, has this power, and therefore the right of the society which covenanted at Horeb to represent posterity, did not proceed from positive institution, but had its foundation in natural principles and law. 1 Jer. ii. 2. ; Amos i. 11, 12. 2 Gen xt. 16 ; Matt, xxxii. 31, 32. 3 Exod. xvii. 8—16 ; Matt, xxiii. 34, 35, 36 ; Rev. xix. 1, 2. * Exod. xiii. 19 ; Joshua ix. 18, compared with 2 Samuel xxi. 1 ; Jer. ii. 20 ; xi. 10, 11 ; Amos i. 9. $ Ps. xv. 4 ; Judges xi. 35. 164 DOCTRINAL PART CHAPTER XVIII. OF THE ORDINANCES OF INSTITUTED WORSHIP. Sect. I. — Of the Ordinance of Preaching, and the Pastoral Office. 1. In defence of the common doctrine of Protestants, and in opposition to lay preaching,-^- we declare, That to preach the Gospel is authoritatively to publish the good news and glad tidings of salvation in the name of Christ, and that none are warranted to preach the Gospel but those who have the call of Christ for that purpose : That the Apostles received their call im- mediately from Christ, the alone king of the church, with power to commit that sacred trust to inferior teachers ; that these, again, were commanded to com- mit it to faithful men, who should be able to teach others ; that none have a right to preach the gospel in ordinary cases, but those who are thus authorised by Christ through the medium of persons already vested with official power in the church ; and that they are to discharge this work in the exercise of those gifts which the Head of the Church has promised to bestow on them for this purpose. In support of this statement we observe, That the regular call to preach the gospel is sanctioned not only by the precept, but also by the example of Christ, who did not enter upon his work as a preacher, without his Father's call r 1 That such a call is necessary, from the relation the ordinance of preaching has to Christ ; that to preach the gospel is not merely to publish its supernatural doctrines and laws, but to do it authoritatively in his name ; but no person can have a right to address men in Christ's name who has not his call ; and that all the success of a minister's labours depends on the blessing of Christ, which is pro- mised to those only who act under his commission : 2 That such a call is no less necessary, on account of the people ; 1 Isa. Ixi. 1, 2; John xx. 21. 3 2 Cor. y. 20 ; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. OF THE TESTIMONY. 165 for, as the work of the ministry has a respect to the con- science, and as intruders upon this work cannot, without the greatest presumption, deal with the consciences of their hearers in the name of the Lord, so it is absurd to suppose that their instructions and admonitions can have any weight, or be binding upon their consciences, while they are acting not under, but in direct opposition to, the authority of the Lord of the conscience : l That this call is further necessary to the comfort, support, and safety of the minister himself; for as the work of the ministry is a work of peculiar difficulty and danger, not only from the oppo- sition that may be expected in the faithful discharge of it from men, but also from the powers of darkness, — so none are warranted to expect divine support and protection in the discharge of that work, but those who act under the authority of a divine commission. 2 We further observe, that the practice of reading sermons from the pulpit, which has become so common in the present day, affords an opportunity of introducing persons into the ministry, and of continuing them in it, who are destitute of ministerial gifts, argues distrust of the support which Christ has promised to his servants in this work, mars the edification of the hearers, and has been, in former times, the means of pro- ducing a dry and unprofitable strain of preaching, and of substituting philosophical and elaborate essays in the room of the plain and affectionate preaching of the gospel. 2. In opposition to those who confine their ministerial labours to preaching and public acts of government, and ne- glect the more private duties of their office, — we declare, That it is the duty of -ministers to visit the different families under their charge, to pray with them, to in- quire into the state of personal and family religion among them ; to instruct, reprove, and exhort them according to their respective circumstances, and to instruct their people in the principles of religion, by means of public examination or catechising ; and it is not less the duty of a people diligently to attend upon such ministrations, and endeavour to profit by them in the knowledge and love of the truth. 1 Jer. sxsiii. 21, 22. 2 Rom. x. 14, 15 ; Acts six. 13, 14, 15. H 166 DOCTRINAL PART In support of these statements, we observe, That the Apostle, whose practice in this respect is undoubtedly recorded for imitation, taught not only publicly, but also in private families: 1 That this duty must necessarily be included in the charge given to ministers by the Apostle, to take heed to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers: 2 And that the duty of public examination is peculiarly useful for increasing religious knowledge, and acquainting ministers with the state and progress of it among their flocks ; and that it is evidently included in the work of teaching so frequently inculcated by the Apostles, and was practised in the Christian Church from the earliest ages. 3 3. In support of the principles of the Church of Scot- land respecting the rights of the Christian people, and in opposition to patronage, — we declare, That in addition to the appointment of the Presbytery, the call of the people, although it does not convey official powers, is necessary to constitute the pastoral relation between a minister and his flock. In support of this declaration, we observe, That Christ has conferred a right upon the members of the church to choose their own office-bearers : That when an apostle was to be chosen in the room of Judas, the whole hundred and twenty disciples were invited by the apostles to nominate two; though it was necessary, from the nature of the office, that it should be determined by an appeal to the Head of the Church which of the two should fill it, which was done by the lot; 4 and that, when the office of the deacon was appointed, persons were chosen to fill that office by the vote of the whole multitude of the Christian peo- ple : 5 That Christians in general are required to " try the spirits ;" and if they have a' right to try the soundness of their principles, they must also have a right to judge of the suitableness of their gifts, and other ministerial quali- fications for their edification, before submitting to their pastoral inspection; but the law of patronage deprives them of the benefit of this right: Finally, That the church 1 Acts xx. 20. 2 Acts xx. 23. 3 Gal. vL 6. * Acts i. 23, 24, 25, 26. a Acts ?L 5. OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 67 is a society of all others the most free ; but to deprive her of the right of choosing her own office-bearers, is to rob her of a privilege common to every free society. Sect. II. — Of Baptism. In defence of the doctrine of the Confession, chap, xxviii. and in opposition to the Papists, and others, who maintain, that baptism is regeneration, and confers the remission of sins; to the Baptists, who deny the warrantableness of infant baptism, and maintain that immersion is necessary to the right administration of it ; and also to those who maintain that baptism with water is essential to salvation, and plead for private baptism, — we declake, That while both the sacraments of the New Testament represent and seal Christ, and all the benefits of the covenant of grace, to believers, some of these benefits are more prominently brought into view in each of them ; and that baptism is more especially the sign and seal of the remission of our sins, and the accept- ance of our persons, through the blood and righteous- ness of Christ, and of the regeneration of our hearts by his Spirit; — that, to assert that baptism with water is regeneration, or remission of sins, is to confound the sign with the things signified by it ; that, though an external means of salvation, and on that account not to be unnecessarily omitted, yet it is not essential to salvation: — that, not only those who profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him, but also the infants of such as are members of the visible church, are to be baptized: — that baptism is rightly adminis- tered by sprinkling; and that, from the nature of the ordinance, it should be dispensed in public, and in connexion with the administration of the word. In support of these statements, we observe, That the scriptures make an obvious distinction between baptism with water, which is only a means of salvation, and bap- tism with the Holy Spirit, of which it is the sign, and which is essential to salvation; 1 and that, while they give us many examples of persons who were in a gracious state long before they were baptized, they also give us examples 1 Matt. iii. 11. 168 DOCTRINAL PART of others, who, after baptism, continued in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 1 We observe further, That God's covenant of promise, of which baptism is the initiating seal, is substantially the same under the present as under the former dispensation, as has been already proved (chap, vii.); that baptism under the New corresponds in its use or ends with circum- cision, the initiating seal of the same covenant under the Old Testament, as appears from its being called "the cir- cumcision of Christ," and from those who act up to their baptismal engagements being denominated "the circum- cision who worship God in the Spirit: 2 That children have the same place in the covenant under both dispensations ; for the promise made to Abraham and to his seed is still indorsed to us and to our children, 3 and that it must follow, either that the privileges of the church are now greatly a bridged, or else that the children of the members of the church now, by virtue of their connexion with their parents in the, promise, are to be admitted to baptism, its initiating seal, as they were to circumcision under the for- mer dispensation, by virtue of their connexion with their parents in the same promise: That no such abridgement has taken place is obvious from the whole tenor of scrip- ture ; that if it had, notice would have been given of it somewhere in the New Testament; and that the circum- stance would have been eagerly seized by the Judaizing teachers, as an argument in support of their favourite tenet, that unless the converts to Christianity were circum- cised, and kept the law of Moses, they could not be saved; — we must therefore conclude, that although the rite was changed, upon the introduction of the new dispensation, from circumcision to baptism with water, there was no change of its subjects ; or that under the new as well as under the old dispensation, the infants of professing parents are to be admitted to the initiating seal of God's covenant: That this is the case appears from Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, in which the promise, as extended to children, is brought forward as a reason why his hearers should submit to Christian baptism, which could have had no meaning, had not children been, by virtue of that pro- 1 Actsx. 2,48; viii. 13,22,23. » Col. ii. 11; Phil. iii. 3. 3 Acts ii. 39. OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 69 mise, to be connected with their parents in baptism itself under the new, as they had been in circumcision by virtue of the same promise under the Old Testament : x Finally, That the warrantableness of infant baptism may be inferred from the apostolic commission to baptize all nations, which must include infants; and from the practice of the apostles. who baptized whole families.- "We observe further, That the objections brought forward to disprove the warrantableness of infant baptism are either frivolous in themselves, or proceed from mistaken views of the ordinance : That it is no valid objection that infant? cannot profess their faith in Christ ; for when faith, or the profession of it, is spoken of as a prerequisite to baptism, it is always supposed that the subjects of it are capable of instruction ; and that if this proved any thing, it would prove too much ; for this objection, if valid against infant baptism, must also be valid against infant salvation, since the Scripture connects faith, and the profession of it, in the case of adults, with the one as well as with the other : 3 That the objection that infants are incapable of understand- ing the nature of the ordinance is equally inconclusive ; that it must have been of equal force against infant cir- cumcision ; and that it proceeds from a too limited view of the ends of that baptism of which infants are the sub- jects, both as a seal of privilege and a bond to duty : That in both those views, baptism has a respect not only to the child baptized, but also to the church; that the infant seed of believers are also the seed of the church, on which her prospects, under the blessing of God, depend for perpetuat- ing her existence in the world ; that the promise as ex- tended to children, must on that account be a great privi- lege to both ; but that if the promise, as extended tc children, be a privilege both to their parents and to the church, the baptism of which infants are the subjects must be a seal of that privilege to both, and if a seal of privilege to both, it must lay both under additional obligations to train up these children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; and that this being admitted, it must follow that baptism is a great privilege to infants, though they are in- 1 Acts ii. 38, 89. 2 Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Acts xvi. 15 ; 1 Cor. i. 16. 3 John iii. 36. 170 DOCTRINAL PART capable of understanding its nature and import, for this, among other reasons, that it brings not only their parents, but also the church, under a sacred bond to attend to their religious tuition and instruction. We further observe, That, as washing with water is the only sensible sign of divine appointment in this ordinance, ceremonies of human invention, such as the sign of the cross attached to it, must be grossly superstitious ; and that as it is an ordinance purely ecclesiastical, and as it is a seal of privilege to the church, as well as to the person baptized, so in all ordinary cases it should be administered in her public assemblies. We observe further, That baptism by immersion derives no authority from the word baptize, which signifies to wash in any way, nor from any express precept or exam- ple in scripture : l That it is evident from our Lord's words to Peter, when washing the disciples' feet, that, to point out the conveyance of a privilege by symbol, it is not necessary that it be applied to the whole of the subject for which the privilege is intended : 2 That the circumstances of time and place are greatly against baptism by immer- sion, particularly in the case of the three thousand who were baptized on the day of Pentecost, in the heart of a large and populous city : That all the other ordinances of the New Testament are of a simple form ; that none of them tend either to distract the mind, or to endanger the health of the body, whereas baptism by immersion, espe- cially in certain countries, and at certain seasons, tends to both ; and that it is extremely improbable that the bene- volent Head of the Church, who came not to destroy men's lives but to save them, would appoint a form of dispensing an ordinance intended for every nation under heaven, which is accompanied in many instances with so much difficulty and danger : That analogy greatly favours the mode of baptism by sprinkling ; that the different wash- ings in the Jewish ceremonial, which were typical of the moral change of which baptism is a symbol, are called by the writer to the Hebrews in the original (/Sa^r/o^o/) bap- tisms, 3 but that these were generally performed in the case of animate subjects by sprinkling: That baptism is the sign of the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the 1 Mark vii. 2, 4 ; Luke xi. 38. 2 John xiii. 10. 3 Ileb. ix. 10. OF THE TESTIMOXY. 171 Holy Ghost ; but these were promised to the church in the figurative language of pouring water or sprinkling with it •} That the application of the blood of the legal sacri- fices, for the purposes for which it was shed, was a type of the application of the blood of Christ for the remission of sin, signified by Christian baptism ; but it was performed by sprinkling : 2 That our Lord's blood, not only in allu- sion to the type, but probably with an express reference to the mode of Christian baptism, is called the M blood of sprinkling;'' and that, '"in the language of prophecy, the application of the virtue of his sacrifice is signified by his sprinkling the nations. 3 Sect; ILL — Of the Lorcts Supper. In defence of the Confession, chap. xxix. and in opposi- tion to the sacramental test of the Church of England; the transubstantiation of the Papists, and the consubstan- tiation of the Lutherans ; and the unscriptural modes of dispensing the ordinance,— we declare, That the Lord's Supper is a sacrament instituted by Christ solely for spiritual purposes, — to be a memorial of his death, a seal of his testament, a sign of union to his person and communion with him in his bene- fits, and a badge of fraternity among his followers ; and that to employ it for secular purposes is a profana- tion of it : — that the bread and wine in this sacra- ment are not converted into the real body and blood of Christ, but are only symbols of his broken body and shed blood : — that kneeling in receiving the ordi- nance of the supper originated in, and tends to, super- stition and idolatry ; and that as this is not a convert- ing, but a confirming ordinance, so promiscuous ad- mission to the Lord's Supper must be a gross perversion of its design. For illustration we observe, That to maintain, with the Papists, that the bread and the wine in the Sacrament of the Supper are converted into the real body and blood of 1 Isaiah xliv. 3 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, 27- - Heb. ix. 13. " Heb. xii. 24; Isaiah lii. 14, 15. 172 DOCTRINAL PART Christ by consecration, or, with the Lutherans, that the real body and blood of Christ are under these elements, is contrary both to reason and scripture, and in direct oppo- sition to the testimony of the senses ; that it destroys their sacramental nature and use : and that it involves in it the absurd notion of the ubiquity of our Lord's human nature, or that it is not only present in heaven, but also on earth, wherever the ordinance of the Supper is dispensed : l That neither transubstantiation nor consubstantiation derives any support from the bread being called, in the words of in- stitution, " Christ's body," and the cup, the " New Testa- ment in his blood," for nothing is more common in scrip- ture than to affix to a type or symbol, the name of the thing signified by it: thus circumcision is called God's Covenant : the pascal lamb, the Passover; the seven can- dlesticks, the Seven Churches ; and the smitten rock, Christ : 2 That to employ this ordinance for secular ends, or as a test of loyalty to a civil state, or a qualification for office, civil or military, is not only a subversion of the de- sign of the ordinance, by making it an engine of worldly policy, but holds out a powerful temptation to dissimulation and hypocrisy in the matters of God : That this being a con- firming and not a converting ordinance, none have a right to it in the eye of God, but gracious persons ; that none should be admitted to it by the church, but those who make a credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedience to him ; and that the admission of the ignorant and scan- dalous to the Lord's Table, is a gross profanation of the or- dinance : 3 That, as it belongs to the judicatories of the church to judge of the character of those who seek fellow- ship in this holy ordinance, and to admit and reject accord- ingly, so the practice of free communion must be unscrip- tural, since it proceeds upon the supposition that the mem- bers of one church may join in this ordinance in another church, to the government of which they do not own sub- jection, and while the rulers of that church have no con- trol over them : Finally, That kneeling in receiving the sacrament of the Supper was introduced, and is still prac- tised, by the Papists, in adoration of the host or wafer ; 1 Acts i. 9 ; iii. 20, 21. 2 Gen. xvii. 9, 10 ; Exod. xii, 11 ; Rev. i. 20 ; 1 Cor. x. 4. 3 1 Cor. v. 6—8; x. 10, 20, 21. OP THE TESTIMONY. 173 that, as practised in some Protestant churches, it is a relic of popery ; and that, on these grounds, it was justly con- demned by our reformers as superstitious and tending to idolatry. Sect. IV.— Oftke Sabbath. In defence of the doctrine of Confession, chap. xxi. sect. 7, 8 ; and in opposition to those who deny the morality of the Christian Sabbath, and to others, who restrict the sanctification of it to the time of public worship, — we de- clare, That, although the proportion of time to be observed as a Sabbath unto the Lord, the particular day of the week, and the special ends of the Sabbath as a com- memorative ordinance, are determined by positive in- stitution, yet it has its primary foundation in moral- natural law, it being a dictate of that law, that a due proportion of our time be wholly employed in the worship of God ; that the precept respecting the sanctification of the Sabbath is accordingly embodied with the other moral precepts of the Decalogue, which are of perpetual obligation ; and that, although the day of rest is changed, yet the sanctification of it incul- cated in that precept, is of the same obligation under the Christian as under the Mosaic dispensation. In support of this we observe, That, from the beginning of the world tor the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh part of our time, and the seventh day of the week, to be wholly employed in his worship, and for the. special purpose of commemorating his rest from the work of creation i 1 That, from the resurrection of Christ, and to commemorate that event, the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week : That this change was predicted in ancient prophecies, and was particularly intimated in the promise of a future rest, made to Israel in the wilderness, and renewed in the time of David — which promise is referred, by the inspired writer to the Hebrews, to the resurrection of Christ, and to the Sabbath set apart 1 Gen. ii. 3. h2 1 74 DOCTRINAL PART for its commemoration, on which Christ ceased from his own work, as God did from his : l That the change is suf- ficiently sanctioned by our Lord's appearing repeatedly to his disciples on the first day of the week after he rose from the dead — by that being the day on which the Spirit was given — by the practice of the inspired Apostles and primi- tive Christians, who statedly met on that day for the cele- bration of divine ordinances — and by the designation of the Lord's Day, by which the Christian Sabbath was familiarly known, and by which it was distinguished in the Primi- tive Church from the Jewish Sabbath. 2 We observe further, That the original end of the Sab- bath, as a commemorative ordinance, was not set aside by the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, but another end was connected with it : That as the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, to be a memorial of the resurrection of Christ, so the seventh part of our time is still to be kept as a memorial of God's rest from the work of -creation ; and both these ends are to be combined by Christians in the religious observance of the Christian Sabbath: That as the Sabbath hath its foundation in natural law, as its sancti- fication is enjoined by God among other moral precepts which are of perpetual obligation, and as its original end, as a commemorative ordinance, is not set aside, but another end gained by the change from the seventh to the first day of the week, so the law respecting its sanctification must be the same in its extent and obligation, under the present as under the former dispensation ; and that this is further evident from the importance attached to the Sabbath in ancient predictions which obviously refer to New Testament times. 3 1 Exod. xxxiii. H ; Ps. xcv. 11 ; Heb. iv. 2—11. 2 John xx. 19, 26; Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2 ; Rev. i. 10. 3 Is. lvi. 3, 7. OF THE TESTIMONY. 175 CHAPTER XIX. OF THE CHURCH, CHURCH COMMUNION*, AND CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE. Sect. I. — Of the Church and Church Communion. 1st, In defence of the Confession, chap. xxv. sec. 1.2; and in opposition to the Independents, who confine the idea of a visible church to a single congregation met in one place for public worship, — we declare, That there is a Catholic or Universal Visible Church, consisting of all those throughout the world who pro- fess the true religion, together with their children, to which Christ has given the ministry and ordinances of the Gospel: That, as it is impossible that the whole of this universal church can meet in one place for the observance of the ordinances of religion, it is necessary that particular churches or congregations should be formed for this purpose ; but that these particular churches constitute similar integral parts of the Ca- tholic church, and are entitled to enjoy, and bound, as they have opportunity, to hold communion in all religious ordinances with one another. In proof of this we observe, That, as Christians in gene- ral have one spiritual Head, Lord, or Lawgiver, even Christ ; as this one Lawgiver has given them but one mi- nistry, and one system of ordinances and laws ; and as the aggregate body, of which he is the head, and to which he has given that ministry and these ordinances, is called The Church, 1 so the Visible Church of Christ, under the New Testament, must have a universal character, including all who profess that faith in Christ, and their children : That the Apostle infers the unity of this Catholic Church from the one bread in the ordinance of the Supper, and enforces the maintenance of it from the consideration that Christians have but one Lord, one faith, and one baptism : 2 That the Church is the kingdom of Christ ; but a kingdom is one, though made up of many provinces and subordinate govern- 1 1 Cor. sii. 27, - ■ 1 Cor. s. 16, 17 ; Eph. iv. 3, 4, 5. 176 DOCTRINAL PART raents ; and that she is the " house of God," which implies, that, though made up of many parts, she is but one spiritual family. 1 2. In opposition also to the Independents, who make positive marks of regeneration the term of admission, in the case of adults, to the communion of the Church and sealing ordinances, — we declare, That, though none are to be admitted who bear evident marks of their being unregenerated, yet exacting from persons positive marks of their being in a state of grace, as indispensable to their admission to church fellowship, has no warrant from Scripture. In proof of this we observe, That to make real saintship the criterion of visible church fellowship, does not agree either with the general description of the church, as a net in which good and bad fishes are caught, — a floor in which the chaff is mixed with good grain, — and a house in which there are vessels, some to honour, and some to dishonour; or with the manner in which our Lord and his Apostles proceeded in admitting persons to membership in the Church; or with the account given of the Primitive Churches in the New Testament. 2 3. In opposition to the Erastians, and others, who plead for the admission of all who call themselves Christians, — WE DECLARE, That none are to be admitted into fellowship with the church but those who make a serious profession of the true religion, rendered credible by a competent measure of knowledge, and a corresponding walk and conversation. In support of this we observe, that no well-regulated so- ciety can be inattentive to the character of those who apply for membership ; and that it would be glaringly inconsistent with the character of the Church as a holy nation, and calculated to endanger her purity, to admit into her fellow- 1 1 Tim. iii. 15. 2 Matt. xiii. 24, 30, 47, 43 ; Luke iii. 17 ; 2 Tim. ii. 20. OF THE TESTIMONY. 177 ship persons, who, though they assume the Christian name, have not a conversation becoming the Gospel: 1 That the scriptures expressly require a credible profession of faith in Christ, and submission to his laws, as the terms of admis- sion to the sealing ordinances of the Church : 2 That they represent the dispensing of these to immoral persons as a profanation of them ; 3 and that, if the members of the Church are to be excluded from her fellowship, when their conduct belies their^profession, much more must such con- duct, in the case of those who are not members, form a suf- ficient bar in the way of their admission. 4 4. In opposition to those who maintain the latitudinarian principle, that the terms of ecclesiastical fellowship should be limited to what they call essential or fundamental points in religion, and that mutual forbearance should be exercised respecting all other points, — we declare, That although some of the doctrines and duties of reli- gion are of greater importance than others, in them- selves, and in respect of the place they hold in the general system ; yet as the authority of God is the ground on which our obligation to believe and profess what he has been pleased to reveal in his word, properly rests ; so none ought to be admitted who state them- selves in opposition to any part of his revealed will ; and that the forbearance enjoined in Scripture is not a doctrinal or judicial forbearance, to be employed in bringing down the standard of truth and duty to the errors and imperfections of men, but a practical for- bearance towards those who are weak in knowledge, and other attainments, and which has for its object, in the due use of means, the bringing of them up to that standard. For illustration, we observe, that it is impossible for us to draw the line of distinction between what have been called essential and circumstantial points, or to settle their respec- tive importance ; that, while we are bound to receive the ' > 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15, 16 ; 1 Cor. v. 6 7. 2 Acts Tiii. 37 ; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 3 Matt. vii. 6 ; 1 Cor. xi. 29. 4 1 Cor. v. 9, 11, 13 ; 2 Tbess. iii. 6-14. 178 DOCTRINAL PART whole system of divine truth, and while the whole of it is profitable, the call which the Church has to make a more explicit profession of any part of it, depends upon the at- tacks that are made upon it by its adversaries, and the dangers to which it is thereby exposed of being lost or obscured ; that there is no article of divine truth which may not become a proper and necessary part of the testimony of the Church ; and that a due regard to the least of the commandments is required by Christ, and may become a special test of fidelity to him. 1 We observe further, that, as all Christians are imperfect in the present state, and are of different degrees of know- ledge, and other attainments, and some of them are even babes in Christ, great practical forbearance must be exer- cised among them, both in relation to their knowledge and conduct ; yet this is not to be done by bringing down the standard of truth and duty to their imperfections ; nor is forbearance to be pleaded for in such a way as to hinder ministers from declaring the whole counsel of God, or to prevent the courts of Christ from judicially asserting any truth on the one hand, or condemning any error on the other, or from administering private admonitions and re- proofs, or the regular exercise of discipline, according to the rules prescribed by Christ. 2 5. In opposition to many who wantonly, and without necessary causes, withdraw from the communion of the Church, and form themselves into separate associations for the purposes of religious fellowship, — we declare, That, as the holding of communion with the Church, is not only a high privilege, but also a great duty, tend- ing to advance the glory of God, to preserve the visible unity of the body of Christ, and to promote the edifi- cation of its members, — so it must be sinful to break off this communion from a particular church on slight grounds, or such as do not affect the great ends of ecclesiastical fellowship. For illustration we observe, that it must be sinful to break off this communion, on account of personal offences 1 2 Tim. iii. 16 ; Matt. v. 19. 2 Acts xx. 27 ; Matt, xxviii. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; Acts xv. 28, 29. OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 79 given by the misconduct of individual church members, — wrong decisions of church courts in personal causes, or particular acts of maladministration, when the public in- terests of religion are not immediately concerned, and per- manently affected,xr— differences of opinion about matters not clearly determined in the word of God, or which have not been publicly received in the church, — diversity of practice in some points of mere external order in prudential regulations as to the form of divine worship, — irregularities or abuses of different kinds in a church which is aspiring after reformation, — or the mere desire and expectation of doing more extensive good in a separate state : And still more culpable is the conduct of those who withdraw from a church from mere humour, pride, personal grudges, and envy ; from aversion to any of the doctrines or institutions of Christ ; or from impatience of faithful admonitions, and the due exercise of church censure. 1 6. In opposition to those who deny the warrantableness of separation from a corrupt church, even when she i3 ob- stinately persisting in a course of defection ; and to those who maintain that it is unwarrantable to separate from a church, so long as she may be considered to be a church of Christ, and so long as the means which they think suffi- cient for the salvation of the soul are to be found in her communion, — we declare, That it is lawful and necessary to separate from a church which obstinately maintains gross and pernicious er- rors : which is idolatrous and superstitious in her wor- ship and tyrannical in her government; which has imposed sinful terms of communion, or whose fellow- ship involves us in sin, or in the neglect of some ne- cessary duty: That separation does not necessarily imply that the body left has ceased to be a church of Christ, though it supposes her to be unfaithful and corrupt ; and that separation may become necessary, not only, or principally, for the spiritual safety of the party separating, but also from a regard to the general interests of religion, and as a means of reclaiming the church from which the separation is made. 1 Phil. iii. 15, 16 ; 1 Tim. i. 6, 7; John vi. 60—66; 2 Tim. iv. 3, 4; Eph. iv. 2, 3 ; 1 John ii. 18, 19. 180 DOCTRINAL PART For illustration we observe, That, as the exclusion of obstinate offenders from the fellowship of the church does not necessarily imply that they are reprobates, but is to be employed, after other means have failed, for the purpose of recovering them from the error of their ways, — so the se- paration of a minority from a church does not necessarily imply that she has lost every thing belonging to a church of Christ, but is an appointed means to be used after every other means has failed to recover her from her apostacy ; ' That the plea brought forward by some against separation from corrupt churches, viz. that the means of salvation are still to be found in their communion, is invalid ; — that men are not competent judges of what portion of divine truth is necessary to salvation, while we know, from the highest authority, that all Scripture is profitable for the perfecting of the saints: 2 That we are to seek not only our own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved ; and in a national or extensive church, which is engaged in a course of defection, individuals may have access to the means of salvation, in some degree of purity, while multi- tudes of their brethren are deprived of them ; and that se- paration from corrupt churches is necessary not only in relation to the salvation of men, but to the glory of God, in preserving his truths and cause pure and entire, — the grand end for which ecclesiastical communion is to be maintained: That, when a church which had arrived at high attain- ments in reformation persists in a course of defection from these, notwithstanding every means employed by a mino- rity in her communion, who wish to adhere faithfully to them, to reclaim her, the only method left for that minority to secure these attainments, at least judicially, is to state a secession from her : 3 In fine, That such a secession becomes especially necessary, for these and other reasons, when the minority, who wish to be faithful, are prevented from bearing a public and explicit testimony against her defec- tions within her pale. 4 7. In opposition to those who maintain the warrantable- ness of free communion, or that different denominations may retain their separate ecclesiastical state, and all their 1 2 Thes. iii. 14 ; 2 Cor. vi. 17. 2 2 Tim. iii. 16. 3 1 Tim. vi. 3—5 ; Acts six. 8, 9. 4 Rev. xviii. 4. OF THE TESTIMONY. 18 i peculiarities, and yet hold communion with one another occasionally in church ordinances, — we declare, That church communion consists in the joint profession of the truths and observance of all the ordinances which Christ hath appointed in his word ; that the visible unity of the church lies in the unity of her visible fellowship, and that free communion is an obvious violation of that unity ; that, in the observance of all ecclesiastical ordinances, and in participating of the sacraments in particular, there is a solemn recog- nition of the whole profession made by the church in which they are dispensed ; and that those who belong to a separate denomination cannot, in this manner, recognise her profession by occasional communion with her, but in the way of practically denying their own, and condemning themselves as schismatics. In support of this we observe, That the keeping of the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace so often and so warmly inculcated in Scripture, with all who name the name of Jesus, is an object greatly to be desired ; but as this unity is a unity in the truth, and as, from the present state of religious society, it cannot be extended to all pro- fessed Christians, without sacrificing truth and duty, — so we must be bound to keep it in that ecclesiastical associa- tion which, in its constitution and administration, is con- formable to the rule of God's word :* That the ordinances dispensed in any church must take their character from the character of her profession and general administration ; if the latter be pure the former must be pure, — if the latter be corrupt, the former must be corrupt ; and, consequently, a person cannot hold communion occasionally in a corrupt church without partaking of her corruptions, and with- out materially retracting his act of separation, if he has separated from her, and condemning his conduct as schis- matical : 2 That this practice encourages persons to continue in corrupt communions, by leading them to conclude that there is no conscientious ground of difference between them and the person who makes no scruple of occasionally joining with them in the intimacies of church fellowship : 1 Eph. iv. 3, 4; Acts ii. 42 2 Jer. xv. 19. 182 DOCTRINAL PART And, in fine, that it throws a great and effectual bar in the way of all attempts to attain a scriptural union, by repre- senting that all the communion which is desirable among Christians may be had in the way of their still continuing their separate state. Sect. II. — Of the Government and Discipline of the Church. 1 . In agreeableness to the Confession, chap. xxx. sect. 1, 2, and the form of Presbyterial church government, and in opposition to the Erastians, who maintain that the ex- ternal government and discipline of the church belongs to the civil magistrate, — we declare, That Christ, as the King and Head of the Church, has instituted in her a form of government, distinct from civil government, and not subordinate to it, which is to be exercised by office-bearers whom he has appointed in his word, and who, in the scriptural management of their proper business, are dependent upon, and accountable to, no civil ruler whatever. The Scriptures teach, That Christ's kingdom is not of this world — it must therefore have distinct office-bearers, and a distinct and separate government from the kingdoms of men : l That ecclesiastical rulers are distinguished, in Scripture, from other rulers, not only by their names, but also by the nature and objects of their government: 2 And that the obligation of their decisions is represented as dependent on the will of no earthly power whatever. 3 2. In agreeableness to the Presbyterial form of church government, and in opposition to the Episcopalians, who vest the power of ordination, and the government of the church, in bishops, archbishops, &c. — we declare, That since extraordinary offices ceased in the church, there is no superiority of office in her above a pastor or teaching elder ; that among these pastors or teach- 1 John xviii. 36. 2 1 Tim. v. 17 ; 1 Thess. v. 12 ; Acts xx. 17; Heb. xiii. 7, 17, 24 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28. 3 Matt. xvi. 19; xviii. 17, 18. OF THE TESTIMONY. 183 ing elders there is a parity of office-power ; that they are invested with the sole power of ordaining others to the office of the ministry of the word ; and that Presbyterial church-government, without any superiority of office above a teaching presbyter, in the due subordination of judicatories, is the only form of government laid down by the Lord Jesus in his word, to continue in his church to the end of the world. In support of the above statements we observe, That the word bishop signifies an overseer, and that, as used in the New Testament, it is of the same import with the word pastor or elder ; l that as there was a parity among all the apostles, and as our Lord severely rebuked the appearance of a disposition among them to seek pre-eminence or superiority to one another, so there is a parity among all the ministers of the word; 2 that all the orders in the English church above a teaching presbyter, have no divine warrant, are remnants of the papacy, and their introduction into the Christian church gave rise to the antichristian supremacy of the bishop of Rome ; that ordination by the eldership, or presbytery, is sanctioned by scripture ex- ample ;' and that the different acts of ecclesiastical rule or government are ascribed in scripture to the elders of the church associated in smaller or larger assemblies for that purpose. 4 3. In opposition to the Independents, who maintain that the government of the church is lodged in the body of the christian people, and that every congregation has a complete and independent power of government within itself, WE DECLARE, That to assign the government of the church to the body of the people, is inconsistent with the plain dis- tinction which the Scripture makes between the rulers and other members of the church, sets aside an institution of Christ, and leads to disorder and confusion : That these rulers or elders, as has been 1 Acts xx. 17, compared with verse 28 ; 1 Tim. iii. 2, 3, 4, 5, com- pared with chap. v. 17 ; Tit. i. 5, compared with verse 7. - Mark x. 42, 43. 3 1 Tim. iv. 14. * 1 Tim. v. 17; Acts xv. 22. 184 DOCTRINAL PART already proved, were given by Christ to the Church Catholic or universal, and that they must therefore have an official relation, not only to the particular congregations over which respectively they more immediately preside, but also to the church as a whole: That this official relation which they have to the whole church demands their co-operation in her general government, and that they may meet judicially for that purpose, in smaller or larger assemblies, as her exigen- cies require, and as local circumstances permit ; and as the several parts must be subordinate to the whole, so the decisions of the elders or rulers of a particular congregation must be subject to the review and judg- ment of the elders and rulers of many congregations assembled and acting together ; and the decrees of the latter, if lawful in themselves, are binding on the former. For illustration we observe, That the congregational plan of church government is inconsistent with the oneness of the church, as founded upon the oneness of her Head, faith, baptism, and the whole system of her laws and ordinances ;* and with the beautiful description that is given of her in Scripture, — in allusion to the human body, and the mutual sympathy and dependence of its members, — to a kingdom which, though composed of many provinces, is under one government, — and to an army under one commander, made up of different detachments, which, though removed at a distance from one another, and led by their own officers, do all fight under the same banner, and are bound to unite and co-operate in the same cause : 2 That besides those matters which relate to the internal concerns of a particular congregation, and which its office- bearers may sometimes be unable to decide satisfactorily, there are other causes which do not exclusively relate to any one congregation, but are of common concern ; and which therefore require the judgment and decision of the office-bearers of many congregations associated for such purposes : That the primitive converts to Christianity in Jerusalem, Ephesus, and other cities, were so numerous, that it was impossible they could assemble in one place for worship ; yet they are called one church, and their elders 1 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13 ; Col. i. 18 ; Eph. iv. 4, 5, 6. - 1 Cor. xii. 12, 26, 27 ; John xviii. 36; Rev. xix. 14 ; xx. 9. OF THE TESTIMONY. 1 85 met as a presbytery for transacting their common affairs : l In fine, That although the gradation of church judicatories, such as Kirk-sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, and General Assemblies or Councils, is not expressly laid down in Scripture, and although all these are not necessary, or attainable, by the church at all times and in all places, — yet they are warranted by the principles above stated, and by the meeting of the Apostles and Elders held at Jerusa- lem, in consequence of the reference from the church at Antioch, concerning the disputed question about circum- cision, taken in connection with the authority and effect which the decrees ordained by them on that occasion had on the churches at large. 2 4. In opposition both to the Episcopalians and Indepen- dents, who deny the divine authority of the office of Ruling Elder, — we declare, That, besides the minister or teaching elder, who labours in word and doctrine, it is requisite, according to Scripture, that there be other elders to join with him in the government of the Church. In proof of this we observe, That, when the Apostle in- culcates the giving of double honour to elders in general, who rule well, and adds, "especially to them who labour in word and doctrine," it is evidently supposed, that, besides those elders who teach as well as rule, there are other elders, the exercise of whose office is limited to rule, and who are helps in government. 3 5. In defence of the Confession, chap, xxx., and in oppo- sition to the Erastians, who assign the power of inflicting the censures of the church to the civil magistrate ; and to the neglect and abuses of church discipline, — we declare, That Christ hath appointed a certain discipline to be exercised in his church, for vindicating his laws, main- taining the purity of his worship, reclaiming offenders, deterring others from crime, and satisfying the church as to the repentance and submission of her fallen members ; that the exercise of this discipline belongs 1 Acts xv. 4, 22 ; xx. 17. - Acts xv. 22, 29—31 . 3 lTim. v. 17; 1 Cor. xii. 28. 186 DOCTRINAL PART exclusively to ecclesiastical rulers; that public scandals can be removed according to the rule of Scripture, by public censure only, and that the censures which Christ hath appointed differ in degree according to the nature of the offence. For illustration, we observe, That although scandals against religious society may also partake of the nature of crimes against the state ; yet it is only in the latter view that they come under the cognizance of civil rulers, and are to be punished with civil pains ; and that, viewed as scandals against religious society, they come under the cog- nizance of the rulers of the church, and can only be removed by ecclesiastical censures: 1 That the ends of discipline in the case of public scandals cannot be gained by the private administration of censure, and that the prevailing practice of removing them in this way, is a subversion of the ends of ecclesiastical discipline : 2 That the offences which subject to church censures, comprehend error in doctrine as well as immorality in practice : 3 That the cen- sures of the church in their different gradations, from simple admonition to the higher excommunication, are appointed by Christ for the benefit of offenders : That the higher excommunication is intended, as well as other censures, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of Jesus ; 4 that it does not, according to the Popish notion consist in literally delivering up the offender to the devil, but in casting him out of the church into the world, which is described in Scripture as Satan's kingdom ; and that this view is confirmed by the rule laid down concern- ing it by Christ himself, " If he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican:" 6 That although the church hath authority to absolve from the highest censures, yet she may not exercise it without satisfactory proofs of the repentence of the offender : 6 And, finally, that, as the due exercise of discipline is a powerful antidote against error and corruption, so the neglect of it has uniformly proved ruinous to religious society. 7 * iMatt.xviii.17, 18; John sx. 20-23. 2 lTim.v.20; IThes.iii. 14, 15. 3 2 Tim. ii. 17, 18; compare L Tim. i. 20. 4 lCor.v.5. 5 Matt.xviii.l7. 6 2 Cor. 6-8. 7 1 Cor. v. 6, 7 ; Heb. xii. 15, 16 ; Rev. ii. 14-16. * For the doctrine concerning Magistracy, and the Connection between Churcb and State, see above, pp. 60-64, and pp. 70-74. PART III. PRACTICAL EVILS. The gospel is a doctrine according to godliness, and every departure from it tends to ungodliness* In all ages it has been seen that in proportion as individuals or nations have swerved from the truth, and from the parity of God's ordinances, they have become irreligious and corrupt in their manners. This description is justly applicable to the present times, and to the state of matters among us. Be- sides the many practical evils vrhich we have already con- demned in this Testimony, a fuller enumeration of these, which are grounds of God's controversy with us, will be given in our public Acknowledgment of Sins ; at present we confine ourselves to some of the most commonly pre- vailing. How many proclaim their impiety, not only by know- ingly and fearlessly indulging in vice, but by an avowed contempt for all that is sacred! and what multitudes betray their practical atheism by casting off the form of religion, and disregarding God in all their actions and undertakings ! What a large proportion of the inhabitants of our land live in the habitual neglect of the public ordinances of religion ! How ready are Protestants, for the sake of gratifying an idle curiosity, to countenance the Popish worship, though defiled with gross idolatry, against which God has in his word denounced the severest judgments! How few are those who are grieved at the dishonour done to God by the corruption of his ordinances, or anxious to prevent or correct this evil ! Is there not reason to fear that multi- tudes, even on the Lord's day, resort to our churches as to places of entertainment? And is not the ordinance of praise so conducted in some instances, even among presby- terians, as to foster this disposition ? Have not the word 188 PRACTICAL EVILS. of God and the most dread mysteries of our holy religion, been openly profaned, in our principal cities, by their being employed for the purpose of public amusement, in what are called Musical Festivals ? And are not the Holy Scriptures and the ordinances of prayer often profaned in masonic ceremonies and processions ? Is not family worship greatly neglected? and is there a vestige of it in the houses of mul- titudes who demand and receive the most sacred privileges of the church? The name of God is grievously profaned among us, by cursing and swearing in ordinary conversation, — a vice for which Britons, and especially our soldiers and sailors, have long been proverbial among the nations. The guilt of this sin is also contracted in numerous instances, by the light use, or the frequent repetition of lawful oaths in mat- ters of trade, and by the swearing of sinful oaths, such as the mason oath and others, which we have condemned in a preceding part of this Testimony. 1 The Lord's Day is openly profaned by the transacting of business, by travel- ling for the purpose both of trade and amusement, by strol- ling in the fields, by visiting, and even by rioting and dissi- pation. Multitudes of children and young persons are al- lowed by their parents to grow up in ignorance, and with- out control, and even trained to habits of vice and dishon- esty. Grounds are not wanting for fearing that not a few heads of families professing religion, have become careless in instructing their children and servants, and have devolved on the teachers of Sabbath schools that task, which both nature and revelation require them to perform in per- son. Robberies, murders, and the unchristian practice of duelling, prevail. Drunkenness, which is an inlet to every vice, has of late alarmingly increased ; adultery,, fornica- tion, and the incentives to these sins, abound. Multitudes run greedily after the fashionable amusements of the theatre^ card-playing, night-assemblies, and meetings for promiscuous dancing, — practices which have a tendency to dissipate the mind, waste the time, pervert .the feelings, and vitiate the morals of men, especially of the young, and to divert them from all serious concern about religion. Need we say how much dishonesty, lying, and the love of this world prevail ? 1 See above, pp. 68, 69. PRACTICAL EVILS. 189 Of the sinfulness and the prevalence of most of these things, the sober and religious part of the community are sensible. Great exertions have been made, and are mak- ing, in our day, to check the progress of ignorance and vice ; funds have been created, societies have been erected, and cumbers have lent their personal services; yet the good that is done bears so little proportion to the exertions made, that the most intelligent and candid acknowledge that the evil appears to increase according to their labours. But while they are sensible of this, and in danger of weary- ing themselves with the invention of new plans, few seem aware, that while the means which God has appointed and promised to bless are neglected, other means, however plau- sible, and however zealously used, will not produce the effect While so many of our pulpits are filled with men who preach another doctrine than that which purifieth the heart ; — while our ministers of the gospel and other office- bearers are careless about the discharge of their duties ; while the discipline which the Lord Jesus Christ hath or- dained is so greatly neglected, and the attempts of any church or congregation to maintain it are counteracted and defeated by the unfaithfulness or lukewarmness of those who are around it ; while those in civil authority, content- ing themselves with punishing the crimes which come di- rectly under their cognisance, or are forced on their notice, overlook the prolific nurseries of vice ; and neglect to apply the proper preventives; while many of the teachers of our youth imbue their minds with every thing but the know- ledge and fear of God ; and while so little control is exer- cised by parents and masters over those who are committed to their immediate inspection, — what general or perma- nent success can be expected to attend the exertions of individuals, or voluntary associations, who take upon them the united task of all these classes of persons, without any other call but their own benevolence, and without any authority but that which arises from the re- spectability ui their characters, and the soundness of their advice ? If we would have a general reformation, the root of the evil must be struck at ; and, in order to this, it is necessary that it should be laid open, and laid to heart. In conclusion, we hereby renew the pledge which we gave in the Articles preliminary to our Union, and declare, — That, deeply sensible of the low state of religion among i 190 PRACTICAL EVILS. ourselves, and the people under our charge, and that union in church fellowship, unless improved for promoting vital religion, by mutual excitement to love and good works, will only tend to more ungodliness ; we cordially agree, that we will endeavour to exert our combined influence for advancing practical religion, and raising the tone of morals among our people : And, as a principal means for accom- plishing these ends, through the divine blessing on the regular exercise of the discipline of the church, we shall endeavour, in our several places and stations, to promote purity of communion through the Associate Body, by guarding against lax admission to sealing ordinances, and by employing every scriptural method for reclaiming the careless and immoral, and for excluding from our fellow- ship such as refuse to be reclaimed. We have thus attempted to discharge a duty which we considered as called for at our hands, by bearing an explicit testimony to the distinguishing truths- of God, so variously and violently assailed in our day, and to the covenanted reformation of Britain and Ireland, in opposition to the departures from it in former and present times. From the greater part of the present generation, who care for none of these things, who have either cast off all regard to religion, or rest satisfied with its external form, and who are as incapable of judging of what concerns the glory of God and the best interests of men, as they are indifferent about every scheme for promoting them, we are afraid that little attention will be paid to this testimony. Nor can we look for a favourable reception of it from that part of the religious public who are intoxicated with the fashionable doctrine of the present day, to such a degree as to feel an indifference to all established or prevailing errors and abuses in churches ; and, consequently, are inclined to turn away, with aversion and disgust, from every attempt to lay open the sources and trace the progress of these evils, with a view to their correction. But we would earnestly entreat those who are concerned for the public interests of religion in our land, and sensible in any degree of their decline, to lay the matter seriously to heart, and weigh our PRACTICAL EVILS. 191 statements impartially in the balance of the sanctuary. To some we may appear to have been unnecessarily parti- cular in tracing the progress of defection ; and by others we may be accused of presumption, for bringing charges against public bodies, civil and ecclesiastical, including in- dividuals eminent for gifts and usefulness. To this we can only reply, that, in the course we have adopted, we have endeavoured to follow the example of those who obtained a good report in the Scripture, or whose names have been transmitted with honour in the uninspired but faithful an- nals of the church ; nor have we condemned any thing which was not matter of complaint and grief to the sounder part of the church in former times, or which has not visibly contributed, in our judgment, to injure the interests of re- ligion, and add to our national guilt. At the same time we do not mean to say that all the measures which have been censured are equally criminal ; or that the immediate re- dress of every grievance complained of is absolutely neces- sary to the restoration of that harmony and fellowship which have been unhappily interrupted and broken up. The correction of some of these is not in the power of the judi- catories of the church — though they could do much for re- straining their injurious influence; nor could the civil powers, though they were disposed to concur with the ecclesiastical, effect such a change as is desirable and neces- sary, so long as the body of the nation continues to be cor- rupt and disaffected to religious reformation. Never was a union of the friends of true religion and reformation more loudly called for than at present. Lay- ing aside the formality of a judicial declaration, we would address them as brethren, and beseech and obtest them in the bowels of Christian affection, in the name of our com- mon Lord, and as they regard the preservation of that cause which they profess, and to which we believe them to be cordially attached, to consider the following things : In the first place, we would entreat them to consider the tendency of division among Christians, and especially among those who make the same confession of faith, — to harden infidels and enemies to the Gospel of Christ, — to cherish improper feelings among themselves, — to counteract the exercise of discipline, — and to retard the grand and avowed design of Christianity, which is to unite men of all countries and classes to God and to one another, in sentiment, heart, and 192 PRACTICAL EVILS. confession. In the second place, we would call their atten- tion to the extensive and liberal, and at the same time, scriptural platform of union laid down in the Westminster formularies, compiled for Great Britain and Ireland, and adapted for the purpose of maintaining fellowship among the friends of the Reformation in any part of the world, with the high authority which these possess, in preference to any basis of union which might be framed by any parties in the present time, in consequence of the veneration in which they have long been held, especially among all deno- minations of Presbyterians. In the third place, we would submit to their consideration the superadded obligation under which we live, to cultivate union by the sacred bond of our National Covenants, and especially of the Solemn League, one main design of which was to produce and per- petuate a religious union and conjunction. It is surely in- cumbent on all who profess to own the continued obliga- tion of these sacred bonds, seriously to consider whether such a profession is consistent with their standing apart, and declining actively to co-operate with those who are en- deavouring to prosecute the ends of them in a suitableness to present circumstances. In the fourth place, all the in- telligent friends of this cause must perceive that there is no time to lose, — while infidelity, irreligion, and hostility to all the distinguishing principles of Christianity and Protestant- ism are so prevalent, on the one hand — and a lax and unde- fined scheme of fellowship, calculated to bear down every thing like a faithful testimony for the truth, and to carry away the few remaining friends of it, is setting in with so strong a current, on the other hand. Those who have " understanding of the times," and especially such as are appointed watchmen on Zion's walls, will consider whether the present is not one of those favourable conjunctures for effectuating this desirable object, which, if allowed to pass by, may not speedily recur. In the fifth place, partial in- terests, party feeling, and personal considerations, ought not surely to be allowed to stand in the way of any measure which is calculated to promote the interests of re- ligion more extensively, and with greater effect. In a great and common cause, the friends of Christ are not allowed to have separate interests ; and where union in the truth can be attained, it must be sinful to set up, or to maintain " altar against altar." In fine, what we have PRACTICAL EVILS. 193 done in the publication of this Testimony will not, we trust, mar this good work, but rather facilitate it. One thing, we think, may be evident from what we have been able to accomplish, — that, if a proper spirit exist, it is not impos- sible to heal divisions in the church, without burying en- tirely the causes of difference. By endeavouring fairly to meet them, so far as the interests of truth appeared to re- quire, and by candidly giving and receiving explanations, two bodies which were divided have been reunited. What has been done in one case may be done in others. "We have endeavoured to give such statements with respect to the points of difference between us and some other deno- minations, as we think calculated to pave the way for this; and we are willing to listen to and receive such additional explications as may be found needful. We are fully sensi- ble of our insufficiency for the task of drawing up a testi- mony which would be suitable for all the friends of the covenanted cause in the present time, and would have been happy to have availed ourselves of the benefit of the co- operative counsel of our brethren, if circumstances would have admitted it. We have done what we could : He who is infinite in counsel can direct to such means as will sup- ply what is wanting. May the Lord arise and plead his own cause : Return to the Churches of the Reformation, and recover tliem from their mournful declensions : Pour out his Spirit on all ranks in our native land, and bring them back to himself: Make the watchmen on our walls to see eye to eye : And turn to the people everywhere a pure language, that they may serve him with one consent ! Extracted from the Minutes of Synod, by Peter M'Derment, Synod Clerk, pro tern. APPENDIX. No. I. Page 28. — The following things may be added, in illustration and proof of what has been generally stated in the text. 1. The reformation engaged to in the Solemn League, and which it was the object of the labours of the West- minster Assembly to introduce, was urgently required by the state of the churches of England and Ireland, and was at that time loudly demanded by the better part of these two kingdoms. The old English puritans were presbyte- rians, and the proceedings of the bishops, for a long time back, had greatly multiplied those who were of that per- suasion, as appears from their repeated petitions to the English Parliament, and addresses to the General Assem- bly in Scotland. The Parliament in England, after cor- recting a number of abuses introduced by the Bishops, had declared that many things yet remained in the liturgy, dis- cipline and government of the church, which do necessarily require a further and more perfect reformation. They had abolished the present government as " evil, and justly offensive and burdensome to the kingdom, a great impedi- ment to the reformation and growth of religion, and very prejudicial to the state and government of the kingdom ;" they had resolved, that such a government should be set- tled in its room, " as may be most agreeable to God's holy word, and most apt to procure and preserve the peace of the church at home, and nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland, and other reformed churches abroad ;" and they had called together an assembly of divines to give their advice in these matters. All this had been done in England, before the League with Scotland was entered in- to : and with respect to Ireland, it had been matter of com- APPENDIX. 195 plaint on the part of the Bishops, that the Protestants in that kingdom were infected with puritanisin, and favour- able to the Presbyterian forms. 2. The platform of reformation delineated by the West- minster Assembly, was net of a narrow or exclusive kind. It was indeed more immediately intended to rectify exist- ing abuses in the Churches of England and Ireland, and to unite them with the Church of Scotland. But those who drew it up had before their eyes " the true religion and professors thereof in all places," and shaped their work accordingly. The hierarchy and ceremonies had been a wall of partition between the Church of England, and other reformed churches. These were now thrown down, and the formularies of doctrine, worship, and government, which were substituted in their room, provided for conjunc- tion and communion with all the reformed churches abroad, on the common principles of Christianity and the Refor- mation. 3. As the work was of the greatest importance, and the call of Providence to engage in it clear and urgent, so the Westminster Assembly was composed of men eminently fitted by God, both in respect of gifts and spirit, for the task entrusted to them, which they performed with a cau- tion and moderation, joined to wisdom and integrity, cal- culated to preserve harmony among the friends of religion, and to put an end to the differences which had already arisen at home or abroad : as might easily be made appear from a comparison of the Westminster formularies with the controversies of those times, as to doctrine, worship, and church government. 4. The part which the church and kingdom of Scotland acted in this work was of the most disinterested kind. Nothing can be more unfounded or injurious than the charge that Scotland sought to obtrude her discipline on England. Long and painful experience had convinced her that her Presbyterian constitution could not be secure or unmolested, so long as the bishops retained their power in England; but any representations or proposals which she made on this head, testified the utmost respect for the in- dependence of a neighbouring church and kingdom. So reasonable did these appear, that the treaty of peace be- tween the two kingdoms, which was concluded two years before the Solemn League was formed, contained the fol- 196 APPENDIX. lowing clause : " That his majesty, with the advice of both Houses of Parliament, doth approve of the affection of his subjects of Scotland, in the desire of having conformity of church government between the two nations ; and as Par- liament hath already taken into consideration the reforma- tion of church government, so they will proceed therein in due time, as shall best conduce to the glory of God, and peace of the churches of both kingdoms." l After having plighted her faith, Scotland put all that was dear to her in jeopardy, to save her sister kingdom from impending ruin, and persevered, amidst manifold discouragements and in- dignities, in seeking the attainment of the great objects which both had covenanted to pursue. Nor did the Church of Scotland, or the Estates of the Nation (so far as they acted according to her advice,) ever employ any other means but exhortation and remonstrance, in urging their brethren of England to fulfil the sacred promise which they had spontaneously made. Of this the conduct of the ecclesias- tical judicatories respecting the Duke's engagement, is a striking illustration. 5. Though the foundation of this work was laid " in troublous times," and its friends were involved in a civil war for the maintenance of their liberties, in which they had to oppose the king, surrounded and misled by evil counsellors, yet the public proceedings of the Parliaments were not justly obnoxious to the charge of disloyalty and rebellion. "An arbitrary government and unlimited power," (to use the words of the General Assembly, in their Solemn Warning of 1649,) was il the fountain of most of all the corruptions both in kirk and state ;" and " for restraint of this, and for their own just defence against tyranny and unjust violence, which ordinarily is the fruit and effect of such a power, the kingdoms joined in cove- nant, and have been at the expense of so much blood, pains, and treasure." But the Covenant was intended to " pre- serve and defend his Majesty's person and authority," and his " just power and greatness," as well as " the rights and privileges of the parliaments, and the liberties of the king- doms." It is not difficult to distinguish between the regu- lar resistance which the parliaments made to the arbitrary 1 Articles of the Large Treaty, 1641, p. 25 ; Act Pari. Scot, vol. v. p. 376. APPENDIX. 197 and illegal exercise of the royal authority, and the measures afterwards adopted by a new party, actuated by very dif- ferent principles, which sprung up during the progress of the civil war, and overturned the whole frame of the go- vernment. This was done in manifest violation of the covenant, and was publicly testified against by the whole body of presbyterians in Britain and Ireland, and especially by the church and nation of Scotland. 1 No. II. Page 32. — The ministers of Ireland had shewn their zealous attachment to the reformation, before the time mentioned in the text. In February, 1660, a Convention was called at Dublin for settling the affairs of Ireland, previous to the Restoration of Charles II. They chose Mr Cocks, a presbyterian minister, to be their chaplain ; issued a proclamation for a public fast, in which breach of covenant was assigned as one of the reasons ; and sent for two ministers for each of the four provinces to give their advice as to the settling of the church. Mr Patrick Adair was the individual called from the province of Ulster ; and, before setting out, he received instructions from his breth- ren to use his best exertions for promoting the work of re- formation, and guarding against the two extremes of epis- copacy and sectarianism. He prevailed on the ministers assembled at Dublin to agree in advising the Convention to own the Solemn League, with the view of afterwards proceeding to its renovation ; but the scheme was defeated by means of one of their number, Mr Yessey of Coleraine, who was afterwards made Archbishop of Tuam. In May, 1660, when the King was restored, the Presbyterian mi- nisters in the North of Ireland sent two deputies, Messrs Keys and Richardson, to London, with an address, con- gratulating his Majesty on his restoration ; but, at the same time, petitioning for the settlement of religion according to the Covenant. Some of the Presbyterian ministers in London having represented to them, that the expressions, in their address, against prelacy, and in favour of the Cove- nant, would render it unacceptable to the court, the de- 1 This appears from the Remonstrances and Declarations, pub- lished in the beginning of the year 1649, by the Ministers of the Pro- vinces of London, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Lancashire, &c. in England; of the Presbytery of Belfast in Ireland; and' of the Commissioners both of the Kingdom and Church of Scotland. i2 198 APPENDIX. puties agreed reluctantly to expunge them. On their re- turn, they made a report of what they had done, and of the gracious reception which they had met with from his Majesty, to a meeting of ministers held at Ballimena, when " the brethren did signify their dislike of that alteration of the address, that being more displeasing to them, than all they (the deputies) had done was pleasing." It is added, in the narrative from which this is taken, " Other addresses sent from the ministers of that persuasion in other parts of Ireland, by a very learned and bold man, could have no access : but he was obliged to return without doing any thing." — (Adair's History of the Presbyterians of Ireland.) No. III. Page 34. — The first query by the Parliament to the Commission of the General Assembly, which related to the admission of malignants into the army, was proposed on December 4, 1650; and answered by the Commission on the 14th of that month. This was the first Resolution. — (Balfour's Annals, vol. iv. p. 197 : and Act Pari. Scot. vol. vi. p. 542). The second query, which related to ad- mission to offices of the state and judicatories, and to the abolition of the Act of Classes, was proposed on March 1 9, 1651 ; and answered on March 22, and May 24. This was the second Resolution. — (Act Pari. Scot. vi. 589, 609 ; and True Representation, p. 11). The Commission itself found it necessary to remonstrate against the admission of improper persons, as early as Mar. 18, and June 13, 1651 (Baillie's Letters ; and Observations on the Late Differ- ences, p. 13). It is also worthy of remark, that the Com- mission, on the 29th of November, 1650, had warned the Parliament against that very measure, to which within a month after they advised them to agree, — as appears from a remonstrance, in which they say, " We humbly de- sire your Lordships to guard, for the future, against all in- clinations of making any use of any scandalous, malignant, or disaffected persons for public trust, or of admitting any to employment in your councils or army, except in the way agreed upon by the public resolutions of Church and State." — (Act Pari. vol. vi. p. 544.) No. IV. Page 37. — By the First Indulgence, granted in the year 1669, the ministers indulged were enjoined to APPEXDIX. 1 99 attend the episcopal presbyteries and synods, and if they refused to do this, they were ordered not to go beyond the bounds of the parishes in which they preached. An Act of Privy Council, January 13, 1670, discharged them from lecturing or expounding a portion of Scripture, on pain of being deprived of the exercise of their ministry within the kingdom. The Second Indulgence, granted in 1672, confined those who took the benefit of it, by twos and threes to one parish, and obliged all the ministers in a diocese to celebrate the communion on the same day. And, by a subsequent act, in 1676, they were prohibited from admitting any of their non-indulged brethren to their com- munions or pulpits. — (Wodrow, vol. i. p. 304, 318, 352; and Appen. Xo. 139). In the act asserting the Supremacy, passed soon after the granting of the First Indulgence, it is declared, "That his majesty, and his successors, may settle, enact and emit such constitutions, acts, and orders, con- cerning the administration of the external government of the church, and the persons employed in the same, and concerning all ecclesiastical meetings and matters to be pro- posed and determined therein, as they, in their royal wis- dom, shall think fit ; which acts, orders, and constitutions, being recorded in the books of council, and duly published, are to be observed and obeyed by all his majesty's subjects; any law, act, or custom, to the contrary, not with standing.'' — (Act Pari. Scot. vol. vii. p. 554.) Xo. V. Page 46.— The objectionable clause in the Oath of Abjuration, as originally imposed, ran in the following terms :— " I do faithfully promise to support the limitation and succession to the crown, as the same is, and stands limited by an Act entitled," &c. viz., an Act of an English Parliament, which provides that the Sovereign shall always be of the communion of the Church of England. In the year 1715, that clause was altered, and made°to run as follows :— t: I do faithfully promise to support the succession to the crown, which succession, by an Act entitled, &c, is, and stands limited," &c To this the Mowing explanation was added : " That, by no words in the said oath, or oaths formerly imposed or contained, it is, or was, meant to oblige his Majesty's said subjects, to any act, or acts, in any way inconsistent with the establishment of the Church of Scot- land, according to law.— (1st Geo. I. stat. ii. c. 13.) A3 200 APPENDIX. some persons of unquestionable attachment to the Protes- tant accession thought that the oath still implied an approval of the act obliging the Sovereign to be of the Episcopal communion, a statute was passed in the year 1 719, by which all reference to that act was excluded in the form of the oath, " to be taken by ministers and preachers in churches and meeting-houses in Scotland," who were merely required to " defend the succession of the crown in the heirs of the body of the late Princess Sophia — being Protestants." — (5 th Geo. I. c. 20.) But, in the year 1766, this last statute was set aside, and the oath was appointed to be taken by all, according to the form enjoined in the year 1715, the words of which are repeated, without any reference to the expli- cation added to them. — (6th Geo. III. c. 53.) No. VI. Page 57. — It may be proper to insert here a copy of the u Act against intrusions," from which it will appear, that, while it acknowledges that intrusions are con- trary to the principles of the Church of Scotland, the Act is expressed in such terms as to favour those who were supporting the law of patronage as much as their opponents. " The General Assembly, considering from Act of Assem- bly, August 6th, 1575, Second Book of Discipline, chap, iii. par. 4, 6, and 8, registrate in the Assembly Books, and appointed to be subscribed by all ministers, and ratified by Acts of Parliament, and likewise the Act of Assembly 1638, December 17th and 18th, and Assembly 1715, Act 9th. That it is, and has been since the Reformation, the principle of this Church, that no minister shall be intruded into any parish, contrary to the will of the congregation, do therefore seriously recommend to all judicatories of this Church, to have a due regard to the said principle, in planting vacant congregations ; and that all Presbyteries be at pains to bring about harmony and unanimity in congre- gations, and to avoid every thing that may excite or en- courage unreasonable exceptions in people, against a worthy person that may be proposed to be their minister in the present situation and circumstances of the church, so as none be intruded into such parishes, as they regard the glory of God, and edification of the body of Christ." — (Acts of Assembly, 1736, p. 33.) ACT FOR RENEWING THE COVENANTS. At Edinburgh, the loth of May, 1828; The Associate Synod having read and corrected an Over- ture of an Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties, suitable to the present circumstances of this church and land, unanimously agree in adopting it; and they appoint that, agreeably to the order which has hitherto been observed in this work, our Covenants, — the National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Cove- nant of the three nations, shall be renewed, by all such as shall willingly offer themselves, in the different Congrega- tions under their inspection, in the said Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties : the tenor whereof follows, viz. : — THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SINS. We all, and every one of us, seriously considering the great goodness of God toward these lands, in bringing our fathers, at an early period, out of pagan darkness, and after- wards scattering the thick clouds of antichristian idolatry and superstition by the light of the glorious gospel of Christ: — in disposing all ranks of persons in Scotland, by a National Confession, Oath, and Covenant, expressly to ab- jure the errors and corruptions of Popery, and by the same covenant, frequently renewed, to bind themselves and their posterity to continue in the faith, profession, and obedience of the true Reformed Religion, as held forth from the word of God, in our first Confession of Faith and Books of Discipline : — and in bringing forward all ranks of persons in the three kingdoms, by the Solemn League and Cove- nant, to abjure not only Popery, but also Prelacy, and to engage, through the grace of God, sincerely to endeavour, in their several stations, the preservation of the said 202 ACT FOR RENEWING reformed religion in Scotland, and the reformation of religion in England and Ireland, that so the Churches in the three kingdoms might be brought to the nearest con- junction and uniformity in doctrine, worship, discipline and government, according to the Scriptures, while every one also bound himself to personal reformation ; — and that, in pursuance of the above engagements, the Assembly which met at Westminster, with commissioners from the Church of Scotland, by the good hand of God upon them, agreed upon a Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, a form of Presbyterial Church Government, and a Direc- tory for Public Worship ; all of which were received and approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- land, as parts of the covenanted uniformity, while many important steps were taken at the same time in England and Ireland for the reformation of religion agreeably to these standards : And considering, farther, the course of defection by which all ranks in Britain and Ireland, both in former and present times, have treacherously departed from the Lord, by transgressing his laws, changing his ordinances, and violating their covenant engagements to be the Lord's people ; and that we are at present suffering under the many spiritual plagues which are the ordinary forerunners of desolating strokes both upon churches and nations : — Therefore being warranted by the command of God, and the approved example of his church recorded in Scripture ; and being encouraged by the example of our religious ancestors, and by the consideration that the public confession of sin, when practised according to the word of God, and in the faith of his promise of forgiveness, hath in former ages received the divine countenance, and proved a means of the remarkable revival of religion, — we desire, in a sole dependence upon promised grace, and in the faith of pardon through the blood of Christ, whom God hath ex- alted a Prince and Saviour to give repentance and the forgiveness of sins, to acknowledge, and We hereby do acknowledge and confess, as in the sight of the great Searcher of hearts, our own, and the transgressions of all ranks in these lands. We, with our fathers, have sinned — we have done wick- edly — our kings, our princes, our nobles, our judges, our magistrates, our ministers, and all classes of persons in these lands, have been in a great trespass. Though the THE COVENANTS. 203 Lord bath spoken long and clearly to us in his word, yet we have not hearkened to his voice ; though we have made a profession of the name of Christ, we have not been care- ful to receive him into our hearts, nor to walk worthy of him in our lives ; and in this respect we have, in a heinous degree, transgressed the covenant of the Lord our God. Our consciences, and the many judgments, both spiritual and temporal, which we are under, may convince us of our manifold and wilful breaches of our solemn engagements to be the Lord's people. We acknowledge with sorrow the public defections of these lands from a covenanted work of reformation. Eng- land soon discovered a disposition to draw back and violate the engagements she had come under. Her representatives in Parliament, after having sworn, along with their brethren, to u endeavour the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, in discipline and government," and to " bring the Churches in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity;" accompanied their approbation of the presbyterial form of church government, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, with such exceptions and restric- tions as rendered it in a great measure abortive in that country, and as opened the way to the introduction of new sects, errors, heresies, and blasphemous opinions, which till then had been unknown in Britain. In Scotland, so early as 1650, in consequence of the Public Resolutions, a deep wound was given to the covenanted interest, by the intro- duction of the avowed and active enemies of the Reforma- tion into places of power and trust. These defections from the covenanted cause speedily led to the overthrow of all that had been done in the late reforming period. On the restoration of Charles II. to the throne, the Pres- byterial order and government of the house of God was overturned, and Prelacy, which had been abjured by our covenants, was set up in the three kingdoms. In Scotland particularly, the famous Assembly which met at Glasgow in 1638 was declared, by the Parliament, an unlawful and seditious meeting ; all that was done for promoting refor- mation between that period and the year 1651 was pro- nounced treasonable and rebellious; the National Covenant, as sworn in the year 1638, together with the Solemn League and Covenant, were condemned as unlawful oaths, and de- clared not to be binding ; and so great was the height of 204 ACT FOR RENEWING wickedness that the Solemn League was ignominiously burnt in some considerable places of the nation. The over- throw of Presbytery, and the restoration of Prelacy in the three kingdoms, were accompanied with most sinful and wicked invasions of the royal prerogatives and sole head- ship of Christ over the Church, by several Parliamentary acts and deeds, which asserted the king's supremacy in all causes whatsoever, and declared, that the regulation and external government of the Church belonged properly to the king, as an inherent right of the crown. These euactments were followed by the imposition of many sinful oaths, de- clarations, and bonds, by which the king's usurped supre- macy over the house of God was recognised and acknow- ledged, and a covenanted reformation renounced and ab- jured ; so that persons of all ranks in these lands, who sub- mitted to these sinful encroachments, were involved in the heinous crimes of perjury and apostacy. It is to be lamented that, in this hour of trial, there was a general fainting among the friends of the Reformation, which led to a tame, and for some time almost universal, submission to the wicked and tyrannical measures of the Court, and prevented any judicial testimony being given against them. The indulgences granted by Charles II. to some ministers who had not conformed to Prelacy, to exer- cise their ministry under certain conditions, restrictions, and limitations, proved a snare to a number of them, who, by accepting these, virtually acquiesced in the usurped supre- macy over the free and independent kingdom of Christ. And although the unlimited toleration granted by the Duke of York, when raised to the throne, was plainly designed for the introduction of popery and slavery, and was expressly derived from a power which he claimed of dispensing with the laws of the land, yet, instead of bearing testimony against this toleration, the great body of the Presbyterian ministers throughout the kingdom thankfully accepted of it. The national apostacy was also accompanied with a grievous persecution. The witnesses for the cause of Christ became a prey, especially in Scotland, to the greatest tyranny and cruelty. They were not only subjected to the spoiling of their goods, to imprisonment, to banishment, and to the most cruel tortures, but their blood was shed in our princi- pal cities under colour of law, and also in the high places of the field without any legal process. Thus, in our skirts THE COVENANTS. 205 is to be found the blood of those who suffered for the testi- mony of Jesus, which is crying to Heaven for vengeance to this very day. As the beautiful order, and scriptural government and discipline of God's house were overturned, so in this period of treading down in the valley of vision, the doctrines of religion were perverted by a great influx of Arminian and other errors. This was followed by a course of irreligion, profaneness, and oppression among all ranks, which has seldom been exemplified in any country. Judgment was turned away backward, justice stood afar off, truth failed, and he who departed from evil made himself a prey, till the Lord saw it, and his arm brought salvation. While we desire to acknowledge with gratitude the great deliverance the Lord wrought for us in these lands, at the memorable Revolution in the year 1688, by freeing us from the yoke of tyranny and arbitrary government under which we then groaned, yet we have to confess with sorrow, that we have not, to this day, rendered to Him according to the benefits that we have received. We understood not his wonderful works nor remembered the multitude of his mercies ; and instead of waiting for his counsel, we have followed the counsels of flesh and blood. We turned not to him with the whole heart, by a free confession of our numerous transgressions, and by the renovation of our solemn covenant engagements. When we consider the evils themselves, and their baneful consequences as to religion to this day, we have deeply to deplore, that, in the year 1690, the Parliament of Scotland at their first meeting, settled Presbyterial church govern- ment, according to its establishment in the year 1592, over- looking all the steps of reformation attained to in the cove- nanting period between 1638 and 1650, and leaving un- touched all that was done against a covenanted reformation in the first session of Parliament after the Restoration. Particularly the infamous act called Rescissory, which de- clared null and void all the acts and deeds of the covenant- ing period, remains unrepealed; and that impious and wick- ed act declaring null and void the proceedings of that faithful Assembly at Glasgow in the year 1638, stands in the body of our Scottish law to this day. Thus, that great work which the Lord wrought with an outstretched arm, in the days of our fathers, lies buried under several Parliamentary acts and 206 ACT FOR RENEWING deeds; an iniquity which continues loudly to testify against us. And as the Estates of the nation shewed no disposition to return to the Lord, so when the General Assembly of this church met the same year, they sat down under the above civil establishment, without remonstrating against what was defective in it. Though, in an act for a national fast, they enumerated the heights to which the supremacy had been advanced, the introduction of prelacy, the gene- ral compliance with it, and the persecutions which followed, among the grounds of humiliation ; yet they did not, by any formal act, assert the divine right of Presbytery, nor the intrinsic power of the church to call her national assem- blies, which are two special branches of the Redeemer's glorious headship over his people. They did not expressly approve our covenanted reformation, attained between the years 1638 and 1650 ; nor plainly justify the faithful con- tendings, testimonies, and sufferings of the Lord's witnesses in the late persecuting times. They did not, by any par- ticular act of Assembly assert the obligation of our cove- nants, National and Solemn League, and their binding force upon posterity ; nor did they particularly condemn the sin- ful oaths, declarations, and bonds, formerly mentioned ; and they admitted some into ministerial communion, many in- to the office of elders, and multitudes into full communion with the church, who had taken these oaths and bonds, and who were deeply involved in the guilt of persecution and the defections of that period of apostacy, without requiring any evidence of their repentance. Our public guilt was increased by the Treaty of Union with England, by which, in opposition to our covenant- union with it, the maintenance of the hierarchy and cere- monies of the Church of England, is made a fundamental and essential article of the Union of the two kingdoms ; and thus that antichristian form of government and super- stitious worship in the neighbouring country has all the security which human laws can give it, and that with the consent of Scotland, in direct violation of our solemn cove- nant engagements. At a later period the consent of Scot- land was a second time given to the perpetual establish- ment of Episcopacy, by the incorporating union between Great Britain and Ireland ; which sealed the public apos- tacy of these lands. the covESAirrs. 207 Immediately after the Union between England and Scot- land, our land was brought under a load of guilt, by the imposition of unlawful oaths. The oath of Abjuration was appointed to be taken, first, by all in civil and military trust, and afterwards by the ministers of the Church of Scot- land, which oath we acknowledge ss one of our national sins, in so far as the united constitution, repugnant to our covenant-union, is thereby acknowledged and approved. In like manner, the Sacramental Test, or receiving the Lord's Supper according to the superstitious usage of the Church of England, was imposed on the inhabitants of Scot- land, when serving the supreme magistrate in England, which has long continued to be a national sin and snare ; and though this test has been recently superseded, yet the legislature, in their act repealing it, have renewed and in- creased the securities formerly given for the perpetual pre- servation of the episcopal church. A superstitious form of swearing was also introduced by laying the hands upon and kissing the gospels. Moreover, the sinful practice was at that time introduced, cf repeatedly administering oaths to persons, even on the same day, to qualify them for dif- ferent offices, by which the name of the Great God is pro- faned, and the impression which a solemn oath is calculated to make upon the consciences of men, is in danger of being worn off. Our provocations were greatly increased by the deep in- jury done' to many precious and important truths contained in the Scriptures, and stated in our Confession of Faith ; and that not by individuals only, but also by the judicato- ries of the Established Church. Particularly, in a process brought before these judicato- ries, it was clearly proved that the Professor of Divinity 1 in one of our universities, had taught a number of dangerous errors: Among others, that "nothing is to be admitted in religion but what is agreeable to reason, and determined by reason to be so ;" and that " there was not a proper cove- nant made with Adam and his posterity." But this process the Assembly dismissed without any censure inflicted upon that teacher, and without any particular and express testi- mony against his dangerous errors. In the righteous judg- ment of God, the same teacher was permitted in a few years 1 Mr Simson. 208 ACT FOR RENEWING to impugn the Deity of the Great God our Saviour ; for, in another process against him, it was found proved at the bar of the Assembly that he had taught that " our Lord Jesus Christ is not necessarily existent ;" and that " the terms Necessary Existence, Supreme Deity, and the title of the Only True God, may be taken in a sense that includes the personal property of the Father, and so not belonging to the Son :" yet the judicatories of the National Church neither inflicted any other censure upon the teacher of these errors, but a mere suspension, nor expressly condemned the errors themselves as contrary to the word of God, nor asserted the truth in opposition to the terms in which it had been im- pugned and denied. In another university, one of the professors 1 was convicted at the bar of the judicatories of having vented errors, by which the supernatural operations of the Holy Spirit were indirectly traduced, and the peculiar doctrines of the Gos- pel, as well as the fundamental principles of natural religion, were subverted ; — and particularly of having taught that " self-love, interest, or pleasure, is the sole and universal motive to virtuous actions;" yet the General Assembly dismissed this teacher without any censure. At a period considerably later, another minister of the Established Church 2 published a book in which Christ is represented as a person of our own order, the necessity and reality of the atonement made by his death are denied, re- pentance is taught to be the proper atonement for past transgressions, and faith and sincere obedience made the foundation of the hope of future happiness ; and in another publication, he made a violent attack upon Confessions of Faith, as subordinate standards of orthodoxy. But though this cause was brought before the Presbytery to which the author of these books belonged, and also before the Synod and General Assembly, he was dismissed without any cen- sure, merely upon his confessing that " there are in his publications ideas which may appear improper, and modes of expression, with respect to some things, ambiguous and unguarded, which he disclaims, and for which he is heartily sorry." Our iniquities have also increased by the conduct of the established judicatories, in exercising a lordly power and 1 Mr Campbell. 2 Dr Macgill. THE COVENANTS. 209 authority over the heritage of God, and in grossly perver- ting the ordinance of discipline. The right of presentation to vacant churches, claimed by patrons, and abolished at the Revolution, was in the year 1712, again restored by act of Parliament; and though patronage is contrary to the word of God, and the principles of the reformed Church of Scotland, yet the judicatories of the National Church began, not many years after, to countenance and support that antichristian usurpation, by intruding presentees upon reclaiming congregations. Not satisfied with enforcing the law of patronage, the Assembly violated the rights of the people, in cases where they were left at complete liberty, as appears from their act 1 732, respecting the settlement of parishes in which patrons did not exercise the right of presentation ; and although this act was afterwards repeal- ed, on account of its informality, yet the church courts persevered in their violent measures, till at length, the op- position, at first made to them both by ministers and people, gradually died away. When a number of ministers, being driven by the tyrannical proceedings of the judicatories from the communion of the Established Church, had formed themselves into a Presbytery, and published a Testimony against these and other corruptions, the General Assembly, instead of being reclaimed, condemned that Testimony, and proceeded against the ministers to deposition, by which they declared their determination not only to persist in their course of defection, but also by perverted authority, to suppress all opposition to it. Although we consider ourselves called upon gratefully to acknowledge the kindness of God to the ministers who were forced to make a Secession from the judicatories of the Na- tional Church, and who erected themselves first into a Pres- bytery, and afterwards into a Synod, — in giving countenance to their labours, and support to the Testimony which they published, and particularly in bringing them forward to the Renovation of our Covenants in a Bond suited to their circumstances ; yet it is a matter of deep lamentation, that the seeds of contention were early sown in the Secession. They had no sooner formed themselves into a Synod than they found it necessary to take under consideration the religious clause of some burgess oaths, the swearing of which was judged inconsistent with a state of secession from the Established Church, as the swearer recognised the religion 210 ACT FOR RENEWING presently professed within this realm, and authorised by the laws thereof, as the true religion. A mournful dispute ensued, which issued in the rupture of the Synod. It is also to be deeply lamented, that, by the late union between the two great branches of the Secession, this hurt of the daughter of Zion has been healed slightly; that instead of candidly meeting the question, or making provision for preventing the taking of an oath, when still imposed, which, as sworn by Seceders, had all along been viewed by one of the parties as sinful, they consigned the whole contro- versy to oblivion ; and that, along with this, they dropped a testimony for the proper and continued obligation of our covenants, and some other principles connected with the work of reformation in our native land, which had hi- therto been considered by the Reformed Church of Scotland, and particularly in the Secession, as belonging to the word of Christ's patience. It is to be lamented that the unfaithful and corrupt ma- nagements of the established judicatories have been followed by a flood of errors, by which the Lord's name is dreadfully dishonoured, — the doctrine of justification by grace is wo- fiilly corrupted, — the proper imputation of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ for our justification before God is denied, thousands of precious souls are destroyed, and wide steps taken towards Popery and Paganism. More particu- larly, we have to lament a dreadful prevalence of Deism, by which all revealed religion is rejected, and the light of corrupt nature is exalted in its room ; of Arianisji, by which the true and supreme Deity of the Son of God, and of the Holy Spirit, is denied ; of Socinianism, by which Christ is represented as a mere man, and his atonement for sin is denied ; and of Armixianism, by which it is main- tained, that God's act of election and reprobation depends on his foresight of the good or evil works of men ; that Jesus Christ, by his death, has merited grace for all man- kind ; that notwithstanding the fall, man retains a freedom of will to that which is spiritually good ; that the grace of God is not irresistible and efficacious of itself; and that be- lievers in Christ may fall totally and finally away from a state of grace. It is further to be lamented, that some who formerly dis- tinguished themselves by zeal for our reformation and co- venanted principles, have turned aside to latitudinarian, THE COVENANTS. 211 independent, and sectarian extremes, whereby the unity of the true Catholic Church is denied, and the presbyterial order and government, the only government which Christ has instituted in his house, is subverted ; — the warrantable- ness of Confessions of Faith and Catechisms, as tests of soundness in the faith, is denied, and a wide door is opened for the admission of all sorts of error and heresy into the church, under the specious pretence of liberty of conscience; — and, under a pretence of catholic love, a scheme is laid for uniting parties of all denominations in church commu- nion, in a way destructive of any faithful testimony for the declarative glory of Immanuel, as King and Head of Zion, and for the covenanted uniformity in religion according to our standards. To these public evils we have to add a fearful increase of wickedness, which has spread over the whole kingdom. All classes of men have corrupted their ways. Our nobility and gentry have, for the most part, burst the Lord's bands asun- der, and cast away his cords ; our ministers, burgesses, and commons of all sorts, have turned away backward, and for- saken the Holy One of Israel. Many heinous sins and pro- vocations, both against the first and second table of the moral law, are to be found among us ; such as gross igno- rance of God, atheism, infidelity, profane mockings at the mysteries of religion, and employing some of the sublimest passages of Scripture for the purpose of musical entertain- ment. The errors and abominations of Popery are spread- ing ; Popish chapels are erected in the principal towns and cities of the country ; the idolatrous mass is openly fre- quented ; public countenance has been given in a number of instances by the government of the country to the Man of Sin, and the clamorous and pertinacious demand of his followers to be admitted to all places of power and trust under the Crown, so dangerous to the civil and religious liberties of these realms, is strenuously defended by many who call themselves Protestants, both in and out of Parlia- ment. The name of God is profaned, by rash and ordinary swearing in common conversation ; and by perjury and false swearing, especially in trade and commerce. The Lord's Day is profaned, even by those in public authority and high station, in many different ways, particularly by frequent and unnecessary travelling, and by public entertainments and amusements. Many are without natural affection, unruly, 212 ACT FOR RENEWING disobedient. The land is also defiled with murders, drunk- enness, prodigality, and vanity in dress, foolish jestings, riot- ing and wantonness, and even with undisguised adulteries and uncleanness of all kinds ; and some profane and sinful customs, which were little known and practised in former times, are countenanced and encouraged, both at court and in many places of the country ; as the profane diversions of the stage, masquerades, lascivious balls and dancings, and other seminaries of lewdness and dissipation. Fraud and injustice, in dealings between man and man, are to be found among us, together with oppression, lying, envy, malice, evil-speaking, backbiting, falsehood, dissimulation, and covetousness, which is idolatry. We desire, through grace, to turn our eyes inward to our own hearts, to search and try our ways, to declare our ini- quity, to be sorry for our sin, and to turn again to the Lord. For, " who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ? Did not the Lord? he against whom we have sinned," by our unbelief, selfishness, formality > earthliness, carnal secu- rity, and falling from first love, — by want of tenderness, watchfulness, and spirituality, in the frame and disposition of our heart, and in our walk and conversation. We desire, in a particular manner, to be humbled before God, for our unbelief, which we acknowledge to be our greatest sin, and the chief ground of the Lord's controversy with the land in which we live. We have not suitably pro- fited by the glorious gospel of the Son of God, either as the ministration of righteousness for our justification, or as the ministration of the Spirit for our sanctification. We have not obeyed the voice, nor received correction ; we have not trusted in the Lord, nor drawn near to our God. We have been obstinate ; our neck has been an iron sinew, and our brow brass. We have dealt very treacherously, and have been called transgressors from the womb. We confess our ignorance and great deficiency in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, his person, offices, and benefits, — of the covenant of grace, as made and ratified with him, — and of the way of deriving spiritual benefit from both. We desire to be humbled for undervaluing Christ, his spiritual benefits, and communion with him. We have often preferred other things to him and his interests, and have not given him the pre-eminence in our hearts. We have been little exercised in meditation, searching the Scriptures, self- TnE COVENANTS. 213 examination, fervent and frequent prayer — the special means of secret communion and fellowship with him. We have not been duly concerned to receive him into our hearts, nor to look to him, as we ought, for those purposes for which he is exhibited in the gospel, nor to improve him by faith, for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We have not suitably rested upon his righteousness, as the sole ground of our justification ; nor have we, as we ought, depended upon him, as made of God unto us sanctification, in all our religious exercises, in the duties common to all Christians, or in those of our particular vocations, for direc- tion, reviving, and strength to mortify our corruptions, and to carry us through our Christian course, against all discour- agements and temptations ; but have frequently attempted the performance of duty in a legal rather than in an evan- gelical manner. We have not drawn near to God as our Father, in prayer and supplication, and in thanksgiving, with that humble boldness, andfull assurance of faith, which are warranted by the sacrifice and intercession of Christ. We have not been duly careful to sanctify the Lord's Day particularly, by avoiding carnal conversation, in our own families, in coming to public worship, during the inter- vals of it, and in returning to our homes. In attending on the preaching of the gospel, we have not been duly con- cerned to find communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, to taste of his goodness, and to be built up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. We have not duly prepared our hearts in secret, to draw near with holy fear and reverence, humility, and vehement desire for the kingdom of God and its righteousness, as new-born babes, desiring the sincere milk of the word, that we may grow thereby. We are little acquainted with receiving the word, not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God. We have not, with due frequency and ear- nestness, applied to the Lord, that he might teach us in- wardly, by accompanying the outward means with the effectual operation of his Holy Spirit. We have not mixed the word with faith, as we ought to have done, believing it with our hearts, and applying to ourselves the truths that were delivered ; nor have we been duly careful to lay up the words of Christ in our hearts for our spiritual benefit, to supplicate his Spirit to bring them to remembrance, or to meditate upon them in secret. K 214 ACT FOR RENEWING We desire to be humbled before the Lord, that we have not duly made use of the Sacraments, as seals of the cove- nant of grace and of the promises therein made to us in Christ. In offering our children to the Lord in baptism, we have not been suitably affected with our own and our chil- dren's defilement by original guilt and corruption ; we have not duly considered and esteemed the free love and grace of God, which has opened to us, and to our seed, a fountain for sin and uncleanness; nor been duly concerned that they might be regenerated and united to Christ. We have not suitably applied the covenant and the promises of it to our- selves and to our offspring, nor this sacrament as a seal of it. When present at the administration of this ordinance to others, we have not employed it as we ought, for the con- firmation of our faith, and for strengthening the impression of our baptismal engagements, nor have we been duly con- cerned that God would bless his own ordinance to the bap- tised, and receive them into the number of his children in Christ. We have not been duly careful to instruct our children when they come to the years of capacity concern- ing the nature, use, and ends of their baptism, and the obli- gation which it imposes upon them, as devoted to Christ. Nor have we made a due use of this sacrament, through the course* of our life, for encouraging us to take hold of God's covenant, for increasing our faith and comfort in God, as our God and Father in Christ, and for strengthening our resolutions and endeavours, through the grace of Christ, to mortify corruption, and to walk in newness of life. We desire to be humbled, that we have not been at more pains, in preparing for the solemn ordinance of the Lord's Supper, by self-examination, meditation, and prayer, and by renewed actings of faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ for righteous- ness and strength. We have not approached the table of the Lord with a proper degree of spiritual thirst and long- ing for Christ, and with due contrition of heart. We have not been sufficiently exercised in remembering the Lord's death till he come again ; and in deriving virtue from it, for strengthening our graces, and mortifying our corrup- tions ; nor have we walked worthily after communicating. We have not valued the discipline appointed by our Lord Jesus Christ, as we ought to have done ; and when others, by reason of their falls and offences, have become objects of censure, we have not, as we ought, mourned for the THE COVENANTS. 215 dishonour done to God, pitied and prayed for the offenders, and been humbled under a suitable sense of our own sins. We desire to be humbled for our great formality in prayer, both in secret and in our families ; and that we have not been suitably concerned to join with our hearts in public prayers and praises, to offer up all our supplica- tions in the name of Christ, to depend upon the help of his Spirit, to observe these ordinances as a means of communion with God, and of confirming our faith and every other grace, and, when we have addressed our prayers to God, to look up to him for a gracious answer. We humbly confess that we have not walked as becometh the gospel of Christ, but have greatly failed in our duty both to God and man. In particular, we desire to be humbled for our vain thoughts, our idle words, and our lukewarmness in the matters of God. Our conversation has savoured too much of the earth, and too little of heaven and things above. The impressions of the love of Christ, and of the free grace of God, have not been so lively upon our hearts, as was necessary to keep them watchful and tender, and zealous for God and his glory. We have often resisted the Spirit of holiness, when he stirred us up to duty; and have put away his reproofs, which lead to repentance and humiliation. We have often grieved him by Under- valuing his presence, refusing his consolations, and slighting his counsels. We have not watched with becoming tender- ness against carnal company and conversation, nor have we been studious to recommend religion to others, by a holy, convincing, and edifying behaviour. We have not been duly faithful in watching over, and admonishing one another with meekness and love ; but have been too ready to speak of the infirmities and failings of others behind their backs, instead of observing the scripture rule. Nor have we diligently sought and embraced opportunities of religious fellowship, and particularly of social prayer and conference. All these sins, declensions, and apostacies, are highly aggravated, as having been committed against great gospel- light, and many remarkable appearances of God among us both in mercy and judgment, in former and in later times, against sacramental vows, and our indispensable engage- ments, by the National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Covenant of the three nations ; while the sins of those belonging to the Secession body are 21 G THE ENGAGEMENT TO DUTIES. further aggravated by their being committed against our distinguished profession, and the explicit engagements contracted by that solemn covenanting which has been so long practised among us. We desire therefore, to confess unto the Lord our iniquities, with all their aggravations ; to be deeply humbled, and to lie down in shame before him, acknowledging that he would be righteous and holy, though he should plead his controversy with us, on account of our apostacy and breach of covenant, by casting us out of his sight for ever. But since the Lord is still waiting to be gracious, we desire to flee to the blood of Jesus for the remission of our sins, and to pray that he may return to us, and heal our spiritual diseases, that glory may yet dwell in our land. And as it is the duty of a sinning people, not only to confess their iniquities, and be humbled for them, but also, by faith, to take hold of God's gracious covenant revealed to us in the glorious gospel, avouching the Lord to be our God, according to the tenor of this his covenant, devoting ourselves to him as his people, and returning to him from whom we have revolted; and in the faith of his free mercy, through Jesus Christ, and trusting in him for the grace and strength which are promised in his covenant, to engage unto and pursue after reformation and the advancement of his kingdom, which is in, but not of this world : And being convinced in our minds, and confessing with our mouths, that as well by the word of God, as by the National Cove- nant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Covenant of the three nations, the present and succeeding generations in these lands are bound firmly and constantly to adhere to the doctrine, worship, presbyterial church government, and discipline of the house of God, as contained in the Holy Scriptures, summed up in our subordinate standards, and sworn to in these solemn covenants : — Therefore, in obedience to the command of God con- formably to the practice of the godly in former times, and according to the laudable example of our worthy and reli- gious progenitors, in the said covenants, [THE ENGAGEMENT TO DUTIES.] We, all and every one of us, though sensible of the de- ceitfulness and unbelief of our own hearts, and frequently THE ENGAGEMENT TO DUTIES. 217 perplexed with doubts and fears about our actual believing; yet, desiring in the Lord's strength, and in obedience to his command, to glorify God, by believing his word of grace, contained in his covenant of promise, and in the faith of his promise, to devote ourselves to the Lord in a Covenant of Duty: TTe do, with our hands lifted up to the Most High God, hereby profess, and, before God, angels, and men, solemnly declare, That, through the grace of God, and according to the measure of his grace given unto us, we desire, with our whole hearts, to take hold of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the only propitiation for our sins ; his Kighteousness as the only foundation of our access to God, and acceptance with him ; his Covenant of free and rich promises, as our only charter for the heavenly inheritance ; his Word, for our perfect and only rule of faith and prac- tice ; his Spirit, for our sole guide, to lead us into all truth revealed in his Holy Word, to which nothing is at any time to be added, either by new revelations of the Spirit, or tra • ditions of men. We avouch the Lord to be our God ; and, in the strength of his promised grace, we promise and sii-ear, by the Great name of the Lord our God, That we shall walk in his way, keep his judgments and com- mandments, and hearken to his voice ; and, particularly, that we shall, by the Lord's grace, continue and abide in the profession, faith, and obedience of the true reformed re- ligion, in doctrine, worship, presbyterial church-government and discipline ; and that we shall, according to our several stations, places, and callings, and according to the measure of our knowledge, contend and testify against all contrary evils, errors, and corruptions ; particularly Popery, Deism, Socinianism, Arianism, Arminianism, and every error, subversive of the doctrine of grace, as also Prelacy, In- dependency, Latitudinarian tenets, and the other evils mentioned in the preceding Acknowledgment of Sins. In like manner, we promise and swear, That, by all means which are lawful and warrantable for us, according to the word of God, the approved and received standards of the reformed Church of Scotland, and our known prin- ciples, we shall, in our several stations and callings, and according to our opportunities in Providence, endeavour the reformation of religion in Britain and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, according to the word of God ; and to promote and advance our covenanted k 2 218 THE ENGAGEMENT TO DUTIES. conjunction and uniformity in religion, Confession of Faith and Catechisms, Form of Church-government, and Direc- tory for Worship, as these were received by this Church. We likewise engage, by all lawful means, and according as a door may be opened to us in Providence, to promote the genuine interests of the kingdom of Christ in every part of the world. And in regard we are taught by the word of God, and bound by our covenants, National and Solemn League, to live together in the fear of God, and in love to one another, and to encourage one another in the work and cause of the Lord ; and that, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world : Therefore, in dependence upon the Lord's grace and strength, We, in the same manner, do promise and swear, That we shall, in our several places and callings, encourage and strengthen one another, in pursuing the end and design of this our solemn Oath and Covenant; and shall endeavour a life and conversation becoming the gospel of Christ : And, in our personal callings and particular fa- milies, we shall study to be good examples to one another of godliness and righteousness, and of every duty which we owe to God and man : And that we shall not give up ourselves to a detestable indifference and neutrality in the cause of God ; but, denying ourselves and our own things, we shall seek first the honour of God, and the good of his cause and people : And that, through grace, forsaking the counsels of flesh and blood, and not leaning upon carnal confidence, we shall endeavour to depend upon the Lord, to walk by the rule of his word, and to hearken to his voice in the dispensation of the gospel. In all which, professing our own weakness, we earnestly pray to God, who is the Father of Mercies, through his Son Jesus Christ, to be merciful unto us, and enable us by the power of his Holy Spirit, that we may do our duty, unto the praise of his grace in the Churches. Amen. FORMULA OF QUESTIONS TO BE PUT AT THE ORDINATION OF MINISTERS AND ELDERS, AND AT THE LICENSLNG OF YOUNG MEN TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. FOR MINISTERS, PROBATIONERS, AND ELDERS. QUESTION I. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Tes- tament to be the Word of God, and the only rule of faith and rSanners? QUESTION II. Do you sincerely own and believe the whole doctrine contained in the Confession of Faith, compiled by the As- sembly of Divines who met at Westminster, with Commis- sioners from the Church of Scotland ; — as the said Con- fession was received and approved by the Assembly of that Church in the year 1647 ; and likewise the whole doctrine contained in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, compiled by the said Westminster Assembly ; to be founded upon the word of God : And do you acknowledge the said Con- fession as the confession of your faith ; and will you, through grace, firmly and constantly adhere to, — and, to the utmost of your power, assert, maintain and defend the doctrine of, — the said Confession and Catechisms, against all Deistical, Popish, Arian, Socinian, Arminian, Neonomian, Antino- mian, and other doctrines, tenets, and opinions whatsoever, contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said Confessions and Catechisms 1 220 FORMULA OF QUESTIONS. QUESTION III. Are you persuaded that the Lord Jesus Christ, the alone King and Head of his Church, hath apppinted a particular form of government to take place therein, — distinct from Civil Government, and not subordinate to the same ; and that Presbyterial Church-government, without any supe- riority of office above a teaching Presbyter, in due subordina- tion of Judicatories (such as of Kirk-sessions to Presby- teries, of Presbyteries to Provincial Synods, and of Pro- vincial Synods to General Assemblies,) is the only form of government laid down and appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ in his Word, to continue in his Church to the end of the world unalterable ; — which, accordingly, has been owned and received by the Church of Scotland, as the only government of divine institution and appointment ; as is evident from the Second Book of Discipline, and from the Proposition concerning Church-government, as the said Propositions were received and approved by an act of Assembly 1645, session 16 : and do you promise to submit to the said government and discipline, — and never to en- deavour, directly or indirectly, the prejudice or subversion thereof; but that you will, to the utmost of your poorer in your station, during all the days of your life, maintain, support, and defend the same ; together with the purity of worship received and practised in this Church, against all Erastian, Prelatic, Sectarian, or other tenets, opinions or forms of worship and government whatsoever, — contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said worship, government, and discipline, — sworn to in our Covenants, National and Solemn League? QUESTION IV. Do you own and acknowledge the morality of Public Covenanting : And do you own and acknowledge the per- petual obligation of the National Covenant frequently sworn by persons of all ranks in Scotland, and particularly as ex- plained by the General Assembly 1638, to abjure the hierarchy and five articles of Perth; And also the per- petual obligation of the Solemn League and Covenant, for maintaining and carrying on a work of reformation in the three kingdoms, sworn and subscribed by all ranks in FORMULA OF QUESTIONS. 221 Scotland and England in the year 1643, and particularly as renewed in Scotland in the year 1648 : And do you promise, through grace, to adhere to these Covenants, and according to your station and opportunities, to prosecute the ends of them : And do you likewise acknowledge that the renewing of these Covenants, in a bond suited to our circumstances, is a duty seasonable at the present time ? QUESTION V. Do you approve of the Testimony enacted and emitted by the Associate Synod of Original Seceders, as a suitable and seasonable testimony for the Doctrine, Worship, Discip- line and Government of the Reformed Church of Scotland : and do you, in your judgment, disapprove of the several steps of defection, both in former and present times, con- demned in the said Testimony : as contrary to the word of God, the Confession of Faith, and our Solemn Covenants ? QUESTION VI. FOR MINISTERS -SND PROBATIONER Do you promise that you will submit yourself willingly and humbly, in the spirit of meekness, — unto the admoni- tions of the brethren of this Presbytery, agreeable to the TVord of God ; and be subject to them in the Lord, and to the other Presbyteries of the Association, as the Lord in his Providence shall cast your lot. and to the Associate Synod : And do you promise that you will maintain the spiritual unity and peace of, and that you will follow no divisive course from, the reformed and covenanted Church of Scotland ; either by failing in with the defections of the times, or by giving yourself up to a detestable indifferency and neutrality in the foresaid covenanted cause ; — and this you promise, through grace, notwithstanding whatever trouble or persecution you may meet with in essaying the faithful discharge of your duty heiein? for eld: Do you promise that you will submit yourself willingly and humbly, in the spirit of meekness, unto the admonitions of the brethren of the Session in this Congregation; and do you promise that you will maintain the spiritual* unity 222 FORMULA OF QUESTIONS. and peace of, and that you will follow no devisive course from, the reformed and covenanted Church of Scotland ; either by falling in with the defections of the times, or by giving yourself up to a detestable indifferency and neutrality in the foresaid covenanted cause ; and this you pro- mise, through grace, notwithstanding whatever trouble or persecution you may meet with, in essaying the faithful discharge of your duty herein ? QUESTION VII. FOR MINISTERS. Are not zeal for the honour and glory of God, love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and desire of being instrumental in edifying and saving souls, — your great motives and chief inducement to enter into the function of the Holy Ministry; and not any selfish views, or worldly designs or interests ? FOR PROBATIONERS. Are not zeal for the honour and glory of God, love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and desire of being instrumental in edifying and saving souls, — your great motives and chief inducements to accept of a License to Preach the Gospel as a Probationer for the Holy Ministry; and not any selfish views, or worldly designs or interests ? FOR ELDERS. Are not zeal for the honour and glory of God, love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and desire of being instrumental in the edification of his body, your great motives and chief inducements to enter into the office of Eldership in this Congregation, and not any selfish views or worldly designs or interests ? QUESTION VIH. FOR MDUSTERS. Have you used any undue methods, either by yourself or others, in procuring this call to the Ministry ? ELDERS. Have you used any undue methods, either by yourself or others, in procuring your call to the office of Eldership in this congregation? * l&