John Cunningham

“ Who that loves the prosperity of Zion, does not desire to see her communion extended? Who that has an interest in her welfare, does not joyfully anticipate and pray for, and endeavour to use other means, that men may see the glorious things said in prophecy concerning her? Who that is a worthy member of her communion, does not feel himself urged, by a sense of obligation to her, to add to the joy of each of her faithful ones, by being instrumental in leading the heathen nations to the truth? ”

“ Who can describe that life? and who can sufficiently tell of the grace of Him who hath secured it to men? And who should not feel amazed at the backwardness of sinners to prepare for it—so free and beneficently offered? Truly the glory of God is great in his salvation! The redeemed through eternity will find the glad work of declaring that glory undone. Would that sinners now, by accepting of the great salvation, would begin here, and finally be prepared to celebrate with all others of their race redeemed to God, that glory! ”

“ The universe of material nature is glorious. More glorious is the intelligent creation. Both together are tokens of God's wisdom, and goodness, and power. But what was to be a token of his attributes in all their glory displayed in the salvation of man? The laws which he has given to his creatures are tokens of his will concerning them. But what creatures could sufficiently denote his covenant, its blessings, and its duties? The sabbath, and circumcision, were each, at once a privilege and a duty, and, as well as other things, a sign of the Covenant. ”

“ These would wish that good men in power should be brought to see what is duty. They would not refuse to obey laws that in themselves are right. But they should not do so from a regard to the authorities in the land that enjoin them. If the present system of civil government cannot stand of itself, why should the people of Scotland, escaped from the trammels of tyranny, pledge themselves to support it? They ought not to bring in revolution, but neither ought they to continue, by adhering to their oath of allegiance, to give countenance to an unlawful civil power. ”

“ Let their minds be wholly devoted. Under the influence of that faith which makes humble, but also enables to do all things in the strength of Christ, let them enter on duty. Having taken up their position, as if bound by the adamantine chain of necessity, yet free as the orbs of heaven—under the influence of gravity, let them, cordially engaged to one another, occupy that ground, there to stand or fall together. Let there be taken by them the calm and noble resolution, which knows not to fail; which fear cannot agitate, nor outward evils diminish ”

“ Will not the people of God yet come forward to send the glad tidings of salvation to the ends of the earth, by not merely promising to one another and praying to the Lord, but in Covenanting with Him, swearing by his name? What prosperity might be expected to accompany missions, were such a course to be followed? How can the utmost success be expected to follow a partial use of the means of Divine grace? God will not fully mark with his blessing a system of means which is defective. All the institutions of religion ought to be acknowledged. ”

“ And why should good men claim for it the character of an ordinance of God, to which even of itself it does not aspire? What right has an unscriptural civil power, any more than a corrupt ecclesiastical constitution,—what right has the British Constitution, any more than the Church of Rome, to claim for itself in things civil, the title, such as that usurps in things ecclesiastical, of an ordinance of God? Nay, the very fact of a government in gospel times supporting Popery, must cut it off from the title of a power delegated from above. ”

“ And, since the modelling and increase of laws, as well as their dispensation, are very much dependent upon the agency of rulers, how important would it be to have supreme and subordinate authority committed to those who, having learned from the source of all true wisdom, and having been rightly impressed with the great responsibility connected with the situation of those who, by the authority of God, judge between man and man, and legislate for his declarative glory, alone are fitted to bear rule over mankind! Every human system is liable to change for the better or worse. ”

“ What ought to be vowed ought to be fulfilled, whether vowed or not; and if duty be vowed falsely, or not vowed at all, sin is committed. Is it not a dreadful thing, by refusing to do this duty, to rebel against Him who said, "Vow and pay unto the Lord your God?" He is guilty and degraded who breaks an oath; but low indeed is the moral state of him who, lest he should not perform his obligation, refuses to swear. And how wretched is the condition of those who will neither vow nor swear, lest they might, as they certainly would, be thereby bound to duty! ”

“ A law, when promulgated, cannot but be commanded. A covenant when revealed, as we here see, is commanded. We should, therefore, take an unwarrantably circumscribed view of the law given to man at first, were we to view it as given as a law, but not as a covenant. Even as the matter of the law revealed at Sinai was an exhibition of the provisions of the Covenant of Grace, so that of the law given to man in innocence was the condition of the Covenant of Works. It was not merely by the promise, but also by the gift of life, that the positive law was converted into the nature of a covenant. ”

“ To engage in the exercise of Covenanting with the hope of being converted, is to act under a misapprehension of its design; but who can say that God does not, when this is practised, bring to himself? None could have any encouragement to perform the service, were they satisfied that they would not act sincerely in it; but to perform it they are not the less called to make preparation. None can be accepted in the exercise but the covenant children, but the most abundant reasons there are why all should attempt it; and who can tell what God will do in a season of grace? ”

“ God in his own nature and in the nature of man, is the glorious body to which are spiritually united the children of the Covenant. God, in the nature of man, alone could have afforded a manifestation of the Covenant adequate to its character. Behold, then, as the most glorious display that has been made of God or his ways, the Lord Jesus given to denote the Covenant that had been made for the people! ”

“ When Churches become corrupt, this is the case. When the righteous are removed from among them, and the ecclesiastical constitution is in opposition to his will, the whole body is out of Covenant, and what was the temple of God becomes the receptacle of idols. When the Lord was angry with his professed people, he suffered a lying spirit to enter the mouth of their prophets. And to the people as a whole, in token of their rejection, he said, "Thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." ”

“ The Mediator is, at once, King of Zion and King of nations. The people of God are members of his Church, and also of civil society,—over which, as well as over the Church, he rules. For an individual, merely as a member of his Church, to acknowledge God, is to do his duty but in part. When the rulers in a nation as rulers, and the people as subjects, do not Covenant, they appear regardless of a part of character which, for the glory of God, they should maintain not less tenaciously than their ecclesiastical relations ”

“ If on the mount of Divine revelation with the eye of faith, which, like the eye of Moses, with age waxes not dim, we explore it, in its fairest proportions, like the land of Canaan, will we apprehend it; and like that distinguished patriarch, who was destined to enjoy blessings of God's covenant more valuable by far than a temporal rest, we will attain to extensive spiritual, and, in due time, eternal good. ”

“ How important the exercise of following the Divine example in Covenanting! It gives a peculiar elevation to the mind. We are called to duty for the advancement of God's glory, and for our own advantage. And when we contemplate aright the exercise as sanctioned by the procedure of God, how distinctly are these brought before us! Was it not for the advantage of men that God entered into covenant from the days of eternity? ”

“ No man in society should take upon him by himself to execute justice for the shedding of blood, whether he live under a good or a bad government, except the government refuse to defend the lives and properties of subjects, and even as some, nay, many governments have been, be chargeable with oppression and bloodshed. The reason why none should so interfere, is, that it is likely that the whole community would execute justice with more propriety than an individual. ”

“ He cannot so follow him in the putting forth of almighty power for the conversion and edification of his people. He cannot so follow him to the throne of the universe, to rule over all things for the glory of God and the good of his people. ”

“ A minority in a church, or that in a nation, are bound by the lawful public vows made by the whole body, even though the community as a whole, may have cast them off. Though a nation, or a body professing to be a church, after having come under obligations to duty, were to resolve that truth is error, or that duty is sin, yet such a resolution could not bind the community. No authority whatsoever will dissolve the obligation of an oath. Hence, when lawful covenant engagements are disregarded by a community, the excellence which gave it an attractive power is gone. ”

“ Why should any cling to an oath of allegiance to a power that, in this particular, as well as in others, is anti-christian? All have reason to beware of the attractions of such civil powers. What is it that gives evil governments their influence, but their power to terrify, and their wealth and honours to seduce? In one case, the ministers of the Community to whom we now direct our thoughts, have nobly cast the latter aside. ”

“ The purpose of God to save sinners is from eternity. The covenant is due to that. In an order of nature wonderful to contemplate, the former precedes the latter. God willed that the Father should be the God of grace. God willed that the Son should be the Mediator between God and men. God willed that the Holy Ghost should dispense his influences for carrying into effect the purposes of mercy. These purposes stand from eternity—the fruit of the Divine sovereignty—the conscious resolutions of the Eternal—the conditions of a sure Covenant. ”

“ To prefer God to others is not merely to cast them and their services off, but to acknowledge and reverence Him as the object of supreme regard. Man cannot be without some thoughts of a divinity. Even among those who would seem to have fallen most from the knowledge of God, something about their own characters or circumstances virtually usurps His place. The law of the ten commandments, written at first on the heart of man, and afterwards proclaimed by the voice of God, contemplated and anticipated every departure from the service due to Him that should occur throughout all time. ”

“ That men are bound by previous descending Covenant obligations, is no reason why they should not themselves engage in Covenanting. Have not all the chosen of God to be brought successively nearer and nearer to him? And ought not this exercise, designed for facilitating this, to be carefully had recourse to? Are not the Scriptures to be read? Are not all the means of grace to be used for this? Covenanting is a means of the restoration of men to Him from every imperfection, whether in an unconverted or converted state. ”

“ Beauteous is the bow in the cloud in the day of rain. More beauteous than what is simply material, is it to the mind's eye as a Covenant sign. The colours of that bow, unfaded throughout all ages, have continued; and the security of God's covenant is without change. ”

“ But of those who live by faith, it is said, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" ”

“ To the good we should be drawn, not merely for our own advantage, but for theirs. Their excellencies we ought to imitate, and to endeavour, if possible, to increase and render more effective; and their society, in order to the advancement of the interests of truth, we should cultivate. To the intelligent and wise we should be drawn, that we may be wise, and their influence for good may be reflected back to the utmost, even though in measure small, upon themselves ”

“ And when his enemies, like the men of old time, who, while the flood's destructive waters advanced, may have fled to the mountains for safety, will in vain seek deliverance from Divine wrath, his people, contemplating the evidence of his gracious regard to them, in triumph will acknowledge,—"Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." ”

“ It is criminal voluntarily to support, for a single hour, laws which are immoral, unscriptural, and anti-christian; and an oath promising such support cannot but be sinful. It is a grievous error to maintain, that it is a duty to obey and support any law, however wicked, so long as it remains in the statute-book. There is a law above all the laws of men, the authority of which remains for ever unchangeable; and when any human laws are in opposition to the divine, it is our duty to obey God rather than man. ”