book of the Covenant of God, was the book of the law. The curses of the Covenant were written in the book of the law. In that book, too, the promises of the Covenant were contained. The statutes and Covenant of God are conjoined, and both are commanded;-the one that they might be obeyed, the other, that it might be taken hold upon, and that its duties contained in those statutes might be observed. "Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my Covenant, and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.' And that which is made known as the everlasting Covenant, is given as a law. "He

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hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations : which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.' "94

Covenanting, whether Personal or Social, ought to embrace present and permanent duty. The Ten Commandments are of perpetual obligation on all; and so is every moral precept included in them. And not less than these, is every positive statute which is applicable to this last dispensation. But the words of the Covenant of Grace were written on the tables of the Covenant. "And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."5 Hence, every Divine statute, obligatory on men, being in accordance with the decalogue, or forming a part of it, every duty that can be performed, whether at present or afterwards, is incumbent, and ought to be engaged to as a Covenant duty. Certain observances, not merely because they were signs of the Covenant of God, 31 Kings xi. 11. 4 Ps. cv. 8-10. 5 Ex. xxxiv. 28.

2 Deut. xxix. 21.

but were also duties of it, were denominated a covenant; and their continuance during an appointed term, was enjoined. And if circumcision and the seventh-day sabbath being thus denominated, and commanded for specified periods, were duties of the Covenant, ought not all services, decreed by Divine authority, even as they were, not merely to be performed because enjoined in the Divine law, but also to be preceded by solemn Covenant engagement to discharge them aright? In reference, not merely to one statute of the Divine law, but likewise to each, is uttered, therefore, to all in the Church of God, the command which, with respect to the keeping of the second commandment, was delivered to Israel-" Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you." And in remembering that the saints vow and endeavour constantly to keep all these commands, thus the Psalmist vowed, "So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever." And thus the people of God, as a nation of kings and priests, chosen, and called, and consecrated, to his service, have the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.

All that God requires of man, is commanded as the keeping of his Covenant. There is no statute of inspiration concerning faith or practice, which might not, in innumerable ways, be shown to be included in its appointments. All the exhibitions of Divine truth, are representations of the provisions and duties of it. And however they may be described in the sacred volume, the statutes ordained for the regulation of the conduct of men, embody completely its demands. To unfold the dictates of the Divine law, is to present the claims of that covenant; and to endeavour to obey those dictates, is to use means to satisfy these claims. I. A covenant with God ought to engage all to

duties to each one's self. The Divine law inculcates upon men, not selfishness, but love to themselves. The evils forbidden therein none should perpetrate, either on others or on himself. The good to all that is there represented as due, ought to be done not less to the individual who obeys, than to others. In the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," it is implied that men ought to love themselves. Calculated to show at once the duty. of all, and the practice of those who fear God, is the declaration, "No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church."8 Those who do not make use of all the means which God has appointed for promoting the true happiness of all individually, do not love themselves. Aware of this, the believer, entering into a Covenant engagement with God, vows to perform to himself the duties which correspond to his condition. These are,

The cultivation of personal religion. Vowing and swearing to God in secret are a part of this. That, and the other observances of it, are incumbent, and behove to be kept; and as they ought to be regarded, they ought to be promised in covenant. "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised." Self-examination should be Covenanted. Not less was it obligatory to vow that duty than to exhort to the performance of it in these terms, "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord."10 Religious meditation should be vowed. "I will meditate also of all thy work."11 "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word."12 So should prayer. "As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud; and he 8 Eph. v. 29.

9 Ps. xviii. 3.

11 Ps. lxxvii. 12.

10 Lam. iii. 40.

12 Ps. cxix. 15, 16.

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shall hear my voice."13 So also should godly fear. "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee, because of thy righteous judgments. I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts."14 And the glad offering of praise should be vowed. "I will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.' "15 In one word, to the whole worship of God the soul that clings to His Covenant will cordially bind itself in his dread presence." As for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy; and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple." "I will praise thee with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”17

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Sobriety and temperance. These are to be distinguished from austerities devised by men, and are commanded in the Scriptures. They are maintained when this world is used so as not to be abused; 18 and are cherished when the causes of sin are altogether avoided, and its occasions are shunned to the utmost limit compatible with duty. Along with other excellencies of character, they are inculcated in the command, "Ye shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy." The force of habit alone is insufficient to keep them, at all times, safe from invasion; much less is the momentary tumultuous resolution to resume these, that may be made by those who have suffered by falling from them. Divine grace alone can enable to adhere to them in an acceptable manner. To be distinguished by them is not beneath the resolution of the most free from the corruptions of the world. In order to be

13 Ps. lv. 16, 17. 16 Ps. v. 7.

14 Ps. cxix. 62, 63. 7 Ps. cxxxviii. 1, 2.

15 Ps. cxlv. 1, 2. 18 1 Cor. vii. 31.

observed, they must be vowed. Thus, the sin that doth most easily beset is to be laid aside; thus, the purity of heart and life that adorns the Christian is to be assumed. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

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The cultivation of the various powers of the soul. When these are directed to good objects, and are wisely employed, they are healthfully expanded, and rendered capable of enlarged application for good. It is the bounden duty of men, gifted with such a precious boon, to improve it. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." The heart, in the Scriptures, means, in addition to the bodily organ known by that name, the soul; the seat of the various affections; the understanding; the seat of the will: and it has attributed to it the functions of an active, voluntary intelligence, and accordingly, the faculty of conscience approving or reproving, as the case may be. The injunction, "My son, give me thine heart," claims the surrender of all these to God, not in an enfeebled and inactive state, but in their utmost vigour; and demands the promise, by vow, that they shall be so called into dutiful operation as that they may become efficient. It is obeyed when there are used, the words of the Psalmist's engagement, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength."20 It is bowed to where any other like noble application of the intellectual or moral faculties is vowed; and is honoured when that purity of heart, which cannot be attained to without the direction of the exercises thereof to God, is aspired at in the act of drawing nigh unto him in Covenanting. "Draw