Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n
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A42361
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A sermon preach'd upon breach of covenant by that reverend and worthy servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. John Guthrie ... 1663.
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Guthrie, John, 1632-1669.
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1663
(1663)
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Wing G2268; ESTC R7776
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15,177
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15
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which the Lord's Wrath uses to come upon a People if that be made known to the Prophets they are bound to Preach and declare it or else resolve that the Blood of all those that are taken away with the Stroke shall be charged on them as unfaithful Men in the House of God And it were to be desired that there were many to give warning I fear there shall not the blood of a few in Scotland be required at the hands of Ministers for not giving faithful and timeous Warning for as every Man that shall be taken away in his iniquity and for his Defection shall be made to smart for it so it shall be no Excuse to you the People that the Ministers did not tell you O but dreadful shall be the Account that Ministers must give for not telling the People In the words there is 1 st a threatning for Breach of Covenant and 2 dly There is the Thing for which he doth threaten and that 's for despising the Oath and breaking the Covenant of God 3 dly The Confirmation that 's fixed to the Threatning would it not have been thought that this was enough Thus saith the Lord I will punish thee for breaking my Covenant Now this is extraordinary that it must have this put to it twice As I live saith the Lord shall he break my Covenant and escape All this put together speaks the certainty of the Threatning ver 16 and 19. and also the greatness of the Matter and the weightiness of it and how the Lord looks upon breach of Oaths and Covenants The Doctrine from the Words is That the Oath is indissolvable the Breach whereof God recompenseth upon the heads of those that break it It 's inviolable it 's in the words not framed by my Mouth the Holy Ghost framed them in the mouth of Ezekiel the Prophet long ago As I live saith the Lord God surely mine Oath c. As applicable to our Case consider the Doctrine supposeth something that is not plainly spoken and that is That every Oath and Covenant of God is a thing that is inviolable that is may not nor can not be broken For the better understanding whereof there is something that is needful to an Oath and Covenant of the Lord. I am not to speak here in relation to the Covenant of Works between God and Man in his Integrity neither am I to speak to the Covenant of Grace either in the way of it's Dispensation on Mount Sinai or as to the fulness of it under the New Testament though all these are more properly called Covenants because they are of his own devising But we take the Covenant here in this place to be of Mens Duties in the Land and for keeping them the better we take an Oath upon us in things that are neither Morally evil or good but indifferent but a Man once engaged by Oath cannot retract though they be not commanded Duties yet once entered into they must stand for when we open our mouths to the Lord we cannot go back But I say for clearing this Consider what makes an Oath and Covenant of God 1 st It must be a thing in it self lawful there is no Man that warrantably according to the word of God may swear the thing which in it self is unlawful 2 dly It must be a thing in it self possible within the Man's power no Man is warranted to swear that which he cannot perform 3 dly When we take the Vows and Oath of God upon us we interpone the Name of the Lord to it we swear by the Lord this is the thing here that makes this Covenant the Covenant of the Lord the King of Babylon made Zedekiah King of Jerusalem swear by the Lord. And it is more the Covenant of the Lord when the King is Religious and the thing commanded of the Lord which we are bound to obey though we had never sworn it Therefore it must stand once entered into lest we make enquiry after Vows and so destroy that which is holy Now for further clearing ot the words consider 1 st That in Deut. 23.21 you may see how much the Lord counts an Oath binding When thou shalt vow a Vow unto the Lord thy God thou shall not slack to pay it for it will be sin to thee not to perform it but if thou shalt forbear to Vow it shall be no sin in thee Numb 30. The Lord gives out Laws to Moses for Vows and will have them declared v. 2. If a Man vow a Vow to the Lord or swear an Oath to bind his Soul he shall not break his word he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth The Scripture is very full so that a Man once engaged in Duty if he break the Vengeance of God shall be upon him 2 dly The Inviolableness of the Oath of God is founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations Wherefore is it that there is such an Order in Ordinances to swear by the Name of the Lord Is it not for this think you to make the Thing stand sure For the very Law of Nature teaches That if a Man swear he must swear by his God and must keep it and in like manner the Law of Nations for the Matter of Offensive and Defensive Arms and as to the Matter of Cessation and Peace Is not all this to hold out that they design to secure themselves by interponing the Name of God to it Now once allow this that Men may retract and break Covenant with God then we break the Law of Nature and Nations too and so there is not a Nation under the Sun secure because the way of continuing Peace which is by the Name of the Lord being interpon'd is broken so that neither the Law of Nature or Nations if it be broken can stand if that be granted then it may be retracted The 3d Confirmation for the Truth of this Doctrine The Lord himself in his Word hath declared a Man's tender keeping of the Covenant Vow or Oath that it is exceedingly well pleasing to him and that he has declared such a Man blessed Ps 15.1 compared with the last words of the 4th Verse Who shall dwell in thy holy hill Would not any Man think they are foolish that would not dwell in Heaven Then look through He shall dwell that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not A Body that swears any thing must keep it though it be to his hurt The 4th Thing for Confirmation of the Doctrine as to the inviolableness of the Oath of God it appears and is established as the Lord hath commanded the thing in his Word and as it is founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations and has the Promises so the Lord has appeared an eminent Revenger upon the Breakers of this Oath and Covenant that is to say when Folk hath taken a Lawful Covenant upon them and has broken it God will appear eminently in sending Plagues upon them And for
shall be upon him Now seing it is so we are to expect he will avenge his Broken Covenant upon these Lands according to His Word Now the next thing in the Text is That the Breakers of Covenant with God God will recompense it upon their own heads this is the words of the Text My Oath that he hath despised c. Now to clear it to you who they are that are Despisers of the Covenant consider First That it is a Covenanter in Opinion and not in Practice that is to say There is not a Man that reforms not in his heart according to the Covenant but he is a Breaker of the same for this is the Articles of the Covenant Therefore know assuredly O ye Drunkards Adulterers Despisers of Ordinances and the People of God Sabbath Breakers Covetous Persons and Civilians who care for no more than an outward Profession if ye be not endeavouring Reformation and to keep the Covenant God's Vengeance shall be upon you Indeed we will hear many Folk who pretend to keep the Covenant But they will let an Oath flee when they like thou by so doing art a good Keeper of the Covenant indeed thou art guilty before God for thou never Covenanted in Heart and Affection 2 dly All those despise the Covenant that care not for it for there is no Indifferency here Therefore all the Three Kingdoms may expect Wrath from the Lord except they repent 3 dly These are Despisers of the Covenant who are Fathers of Lyes and Seditions and find out Shifts to shun it but whoever they be that are seeking Wiles to be freed of the Covenant whether King or Parliament God will send Vengeance on them We are not here to Preach Rebellion or Treason but what we shall warrant from the Lord's Word Zedekiah was a King and yet you find Vengeance came upon him and so did it upon Saul's House and Posterity for his Breach of Covenant therefore let all take head to it But what would you have us to do say ye 1 st Consider what Case these Lands stand in And what it is they ly under Is it not the Breach of Covenant and the Judgment of God will come upon them if he in mercy prevent it not Because we have sworn the Covenant and broken it therefore God has sworn That we shall not prosper O! Is there none among the Tribes of Israel to lament these things this day this sad Condition of these Three Lands that they are guilty of breach of Covenant and are under the threatning of most severe Judgments Will you then bewail it if you have any tenderness of heart each Man for himself and for his Family I know some Folk will say Let it even be so for we will never lift it up again but of this afterward now I would intreat you to beware of partaking of other Mens Sins lest ye partake of their Plagues and Judgments Wilt thou Vote with the King in Parliament to sin then thou must Vote for Judgments And I shall only say this Endeavour to cover your selves now with that which you would cover your selves with at the Day of Judgment There will never a Man come in and say The King must answer for me no no the King must answer for himself If you be not studying to keep these things the Covering will be too narrow for you that Day Again I would advise you to lay your thoughts aside from getting much of the World but see if ye can get this that 's in Rev. 3.4 Thou hast a few Names even in Sardis which have not defiled their Garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy It was a time then of great Defection and these of them that continued stedfast were as Signs and Wonders O then walk now as you would desire to walk afterward for surely these that ly down with sin unpardoned in the Grave must resolve to ly in an eternal Bed of sorrow and these that keep themselves clean shall walk with the Lamb in white Now a word to that which I mentioned before What shall we do since these Lands have broken Covenant with God I tell you that Scotland is bound to keep it altho England and Ireland have broken it and altho Scotland broke yet Ireland and England are bound to stand to it Hos 4.15 Though thou Israel play the Harlot yet let not Judah offend that is to say As for you at this present time though England and Ireland have broken yet let not Scotland do so too Suppose there were but one Family in these Lands that would stand to it and if all that Family should turn their back upon it except one Person truly that Person is bound to stand to it Josh 24.15 Choose you whom you will serve but as for me and my House we will serve the Lord. Here is but a Family so that if all the Kingdom should forswear the Covenant yet so long as I am Master of a Family I must serve the Lord I must not serve other gods that is to say We should not serve Popes nor Prelates c. But what if it come to this That there be no Man to bide by it at all but one Man That Man is bound to keep it according to Scripture read 1 Kings 19.14 I have been very jealous c. from which I conclude according to the Scriptures though England has forsaken yet Scotland is bound and tho' Scotland should forsake yet England is bound and tho' both should forsake yet one Family is bound to stand to it Therefore study to know your Duty lest the Wrath of God come upon you and your Posterity believe these things for our King and Princes Nobles and Ministers and all the People and our Posterity is bound to it So I leave it to you with this word Happy is that Man that shall be stedfast in the Covenant though all the rest should forsake it But as to the Persons who they are that shall continue stedfast God has reserved that to himself as a piece of his Sovereignty Again we hear not tell of a Publick Covenant ever sworn and broken but God visibly plagued the Breakers thereof There is no sin God would have Folk laying more to heart than the Breach of Covenant As I live saith the Lord surely mine Oath that he hath despised and my Covenant that he hath broken even it will I recompense upon his own head God useth not to trust Folk long that break Covenant without some visible Stroke as it was in Saul's Days and Zedekiah's If you would have a Mark upon your Foreheads and be keeped free from these things be sighing for the Abominations of these Lands Ezek. 9. Wo to the Man that 's rejoicing at this day Is there no Family found sighing for these thing if not all the World shall hear tell of their Punishment This we recommend to you and do not say that we did not give you warning For we have told you this from the Word of the Lord therefore receive it in love As for my self I know not what I may do yet though I should shrink from the Faith by my weakness which God forbid I ofttimes remember the words of Nehemiah and Jeremiah when they did testify against the People's sins and I do Protest against the Breach of Covenant that I may not be made accessary to other Folks sins and lest I be found guilty before the Lord and be made Partaker of other Men's Judgments This is the way that the Prophets did use this is no Rebellion or Treson For if they think it Rebellion or Treason and think it Censurable I commit them to the Prophets who are gone to their Place who did these things and first punish them and then me I commit all thir things to you Lord engrave them on your Hearts Amen FINIS