j -, r )^i-^ ^^K-^^^gu^^^^jcv^^ju^i H 3^^\^..V^^\Vv^r^7s» ^^r^^rw^^ m W y. 3. /& 7 Jx/n^ yh c/ cr * Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://archive.org/details/actassociatesyOOasso Jfif- 1Pa~9c*. ACT OP THE ASSOCIATE SYNOD OF ORIGINAL SECEDERS, FOR COVENANTING BY MINISTERS, PREACHERS, AND STUDENTS OF DIVINITY; INCLUDING A CONFESSION OF THE SINS OF THE MINISTRY. ACT, &c. At Edinburgh, the 16th day of May 1828. Ihe Synod having enacted an Acknowledgment of Sins and Bond, in which our Solemn Covenants should be renewed gene- rally throughout the Body, and taking farther into their serious consideration the peculiar circumstances in which they are placed, and the state of the public interests of religion at large, judge that the Ministers who formerly covenanted, have a call at this time to enter into the Bond anew, along with those of their num- ber, and the Preachers and Students of Divinity under their in- spection, who have not engaged in this work ; and that for the following reasons, viz. 1st, Since we first engaged in that service, all of us, in various ways and in innumerable instances, have violated our solemn en- gagements; and reason, as well as Scripture, teaches us, that when lawful engagements have been violated, it must be dutiful to renew them, with an acknowledgment of the guilt contracted by the violation of them. 2dly, The great defection from the Reformation cause, and from a faithful testimony for its support, formerly and of late, particu- larly in the Secession, having greatly weakened the hands of the Synod, and exposed them to many temptations to fall from sted- fastness, they consider themselves bound to take this step, as a special means of mutual excitement in the work of God, and of confirmation in the present truth. 3dly, In grateful acknowledgment to the Lord for his great mercy in bringing the members of this Synod together, after they had been scattered in his righteous displeasure, and in uniting them in sentiment and affection, in a degree seldom exemplified in the history of the church, they judge it their duty to renew their covenant with God, and their solemn pledge to one another, to walk together as brethren, and to strive together for the faith of the gospel. 4 4>thly, Although the Synod, as witnesses for the truths of God, have adopted no new principles, and on that account do not con- sider themselves called upon to frame a new Bond of adherence to principles formerly espoused ; yet being called to witness for these principles in new circumstances, from the late changes in the reli- gious public at large, and in the Secession in particular, and by a new statement of their Testimony ; they judge that the change of circumstances fully warrants those, who were formerly covenanters, to enter anew into the Bond. In connexion with this, it may be observed, that the Bond reduplicates on the Acknowledgment of Sins, in which various evils of recent date, or recent aggravations of former evils, are confessed, which those who formerly covenant- ed could not confess, nor engage to testify against. 5thly, This Synod having taken measures to promote the exer- cise of public convenanting among the people under their inspec- tion, and being anxious to fix the attention of the friends of truth at large on this, as a special means of reviving religion and pro- moting reformation, consider themselves bound to set them an ex- ample, by entering anew into the Bond. Lastly, This is agreeable to the practice of our reforming an- cestors in Scotland on different occasions. Thus, the National Covenant, which had been sworn and subscribed by all ranks in 1581, was again sworn and subscribed by all ranks in 1590.* In like manner, the Solemn League and Covenant, which was en- tered into in 1643, was again sworn and subscribed by the same persons in 1648, at the direction and by the appointment of the Commissioners of the General Assembly ; in consequence of the breaches of that Covenant, particularly by the engagement in war with England. f For these and other reasons, the Synod, after serious delibera- tion, agree, That all the Ministers of their body, together with the Preachers and Students of Divinity under their inspection, shall enter into the Bond for renewing the Covenants, at Edinburgh, on the 18th day of September next ; and that, on that occasion, after the reading of the common Acknowledgment of Sins, the following Acknowledgment shall be read in the name of the Ministers; viz. * See Preamble to the National Covenant, as renewed in 1638. t See Act of the Commission of the General Assembly, October 6. 1648. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OP THE SINS OF THE MINISTRY. We, Ministers of the Gospel, all, and every one of us, consider- ing that we have had a deep hand in the general provocation, and that God calls particularly on the priests," the ministers of the Lord, to weep between the porch and the altar, in a time of a- bounding sin and threatened judgments, desire, in addition to the evils which we have already confessed, to acknowledge, and be humbled in the dust before God, for the sins with which we are chargeable in our public station. We acknowledge and confess, That we have not been duly im- pressed with a sense of our own unworthiness for the sacred office, or of the condescension and grace which the Lord has shewn in investing us with it; we have not, with due earnestness, taken heed to the ministry which we have received from him to fulfil it; nor have we faithfully kept his charge and walked in his ways; on which account he might righteously have removed us from judging his house and keeping his courts. We have reason to lament that we have often made the multi- plicity of official duties an excuse for the neglect of the duties of personal religion, or for the partial and formal performance of them, — such as of secret prayer, meditation, and self-examination ; so that, while employed as the keepers of the vineyard of others, our own vineyard have we not kept. We have often been chargeable with the partial neglect of the more private duties of our station, such as catechising, visiting the sick, and exhorting from house to house, and making the careless- ness of our people in attending upon some of these administrations an excuse for that neglect. In our preparation for the pulpit, we have not been dulv careful to seek divine aid to direct us in the choice of our subjects, and to enable us to treat them in the way most calculated to promote the spiritual edification of those committed to our care. We have not been duly impressed with the vast import- ance of our office, as the ambassadors of Christ to sinners, and the awful responsibility attached to it ; but have often given way to carelessness and formality on the one hand, or a desire to please men rather than to promote their godly edifying on the other, in our public administrations. We have not been duly careful to seek the aid and direction of God's Spirit when about to dispense ordi- nances, nor, after being so employed, to water the seed sown, by our prayers to God, who alone can render it fruitful. We have not cultivated that patience which should characterise the servants of Christ under the difficulties and discouragements we have met with, from our want of success, or the undutiful conduct of those among whom we labour; or, in so far as our la- bours have been successful, we have not guarded against self-com- placency, nor been duly careful to ascribe all the praise of that suc- cess to God, who giveth the increase. We have not studied to maintain on our minds an habitual sense of the vast importance of the care of souls, and the awful consequences to ourselves, should they perish through our negligence ; and not feeling, as we should do, the terror of the Lord, we have not, in many in- stances, acted up to the apostolic injunction, " Be instant in sea- son and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suf- fering and doctrine." In the exercise of discipline, and in the ad- mission of members to communion, we have reason to confess, that we have not been always on our guard against the fear of man, or the unwarrantable ambition of increasing the number of our peo- ple, though at the ex pence of principle, and of that purity of mo- rals which becomes God's house for ever. We desire to confess, with deep sorrow, before God, that, in the arduous contest to which we have been called, formerly and of late, for the maintenance of the Reformation cause, we have, in many instances, come short of the glory of God, by giving way to faint- ing and despondency on the one hand, and to irritation of tem- per on the other. When called to testify against the great de- fection of many, with whom we were formerly connected in all the intimacies of religious fellowship, from those principles they, in common with us, once held sacred, we have not duly cultivated that wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, then peace- able. And, while we have seen and condemned the conduct of others in the defection, we have not been duly sensible of the deep share we have had in it, in consequence of our provoking the Lord to withdraw, by our personal sins, and our manifold failings in public conduct. 7 For all these our sins, and many others, on account of which shame and confusion of faces belong to us, we acknowledge, that a righteous and holy God might have caused us to cease from feed- inghis flock, and cast us out of his sight ; but, depending upon the promised influence of his Spirit, we desire to flee to the mercy of God, and to the blood of Christ, for pardon and purification, re- solving, through the strength of his grace, to walk more singly and closely with him as christians and as ministers, and to watch against the above confessed and similar sins. Extracted by P. M'DERMENT, Syn. 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