The Testimony of American Covenanters a Century Ago Regarding Civil Affairs

From a handbook published in 1929 for young American Covenanters, we find a helpful catechetical guide to navigating the issues that dissenting Christians face in the United States. The challenges and truths found in this guide from almost a century ago endure, and this testimony is worth repeating for readers in the 21st century. 

10. How should a profession of life affect one’s life as a citizen.

It should serve to enlist every noble quality of the soul in behalf of the state or nation in which the citizen resides and of all other nations as well.

11. What one thing above all others determines the character of a nation and paves the way for its well being on the one hand, or its undoing on the other?

Its attitude toward God.

12. What should be its attitude toward God in order to insure its well being?

It should sincerely believe and acknowledge three things: (1) That it has its right to exist, and receive all its authority, from God; (2) That God deals with nations, as with men, through His Son, Jesus Christ, the King; (3) That the Bible, written under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the only book that can teach nations how to keep in the “paths of righteousness.”

13. What part of a Constitution is the proper place to make such a recognition?

The Preamble, or as it is sometimes called, the Enacting Clause.

14. Is there any specific example of a Preamble that would never to the three requirements that have just been maintained?

Yes, the Preamble to Rhode Island’s Compact of Government used to read: “We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, incorporate ourselves into a body politic; and, as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives, and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and to all those perfect and absolute laws of His given to us in His Holy Word of truth to be judged and guided thereby.”

15. Is there any marked difference between that Preamble and this? – “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

16. In your judgment which of the two would be likely to commend itself the more favorably to God and the Lord Jesus Christ?

17. What are some of the principal passages to prove that the former of these two Preambles is right in its attitude toward God, and that the latter is wrong?

(1) The Second Psalm throughout; especially the words, “Kiss the Son” – which constitute an explicit command to the nations of the earth to acknowledge Christ sincerely, devoutly, and devotedly.

(2) “The government shall be upon His shoulder.” “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” Isaiah ix. 6,7.

(3) “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Psalm xxxiii. 12.

(4) “Jesus Christ, … the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” 1 Timothy vi. 15

(5) “The Lord is our Judge” – He is at the head of the judicial department of civil affairs; “The Lord is our Lawgiver” – He is at the head of the legislative department; “The Lord is our King” – He is at the head of the executive department. Isaiah xxxiii. 22.

(6) When Satan offered the Lord Jesus dominion over the nations of the earth on other terms than loyalty to the Father, Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew iv. 10.

(7)  “Render … unto God the things that are God’s.” Matthew xxii. 21.

(8) Then, as to the use of the Word of God, read Deuteronomy xxii. 18-20 – a passage which contains instructions as binding on rulers today, and as necessary to good government at the present time, as they were the moment they were first uttered.

18. Does the Constitution of the United States, as it now stands, measure up with such passages as the foregoing?

19. Ought it to?

20. If the Bible teaches that nations ought to recognize Christ as King, and our nation does not so recognize Him, in what situation does such a fact place anyone who proposes to be loyal to Christ?

It places a man in the position where his first duty is to tell the truth about the situation in a clear, kindly, courageous manner, and where his second duty is to keep himself from becoming involved in the sin he is pointing out, and concerning which he is bearing witness.

21. Is there any command or advice in the Bible which defines the citizen’s duty explicitly, as touching the political situation in the United States today?

Yes; in Proverbs iii. 6 the Holy Spirit provides expressly for this, as well as for every other, situation in life, when He says, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

22. What does every voter in the United States have to do?

He has to place the stamp of his approval on the Constitution of the United States as it exists in fact at the time of his voting, and accept it for the time being as his programme of government.

23. Can a man be true to Christ in Civil affairs if he swears to support a Constitution that rules Christ out of civil affairs?

24. Does the Constitution claim to be “master”?

In its own language it says, “This Constitution … shall be the supreme law of the land.”

25. Can Christ, then, be “supreme” in political life, when the Constitution does not acknowledge His supremacy?

26. Which “master” will the consistent Christian choose to serve?

27. Which “master” have you decided to serve and to give your first allegiance to?

28. Does this mean that you are going to be disloyal to your country?

It means the very opposite of that, for if I am true to Christ I will have to do what I can to bring my country to Christ; and in doing that I will be doing the very best thing that can be done for my country’s welfare.

29. If some one, on learning what you believe, were to say to you, “O, you believe, then, in the union of church and state,” what would you say?

I would say, “That is the very thing I do not believe in; what I believe is, that both the church and the state ought to have a religion, and that the religion they ought to have is the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that the church being one person, and the state being another person, each for itself can believe in Christ, and acknowledge Him independently, in the way which its own nature requires.”

-- The Young People's Manual (1929), pp. 75-82

Psalms the True Gospel Music

It is a curious bit of history that the first published reference to gospel music identified the Psalms of David as such (Nathaniel Ho[l]mes (1599-1678), Gospel Musick: or, The Singing of Davids Psalms, &c. in the Publick Congregations, or Private Families, Asserted and Vindicated, 1644 - per Robert M. Stevenson, "Evangelistic Song" (1957). The modern understanding of what gospel music is (a particular genre of uninspired hymnody), however, often attributes its origin to a man named Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908), a musical composer associated with Dwight Moody and his revival services, who in 1875 co-published Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs. There are other rival claimants to the title of the originator of gospel music, as it is now understood, but Sankey was known as The Sweet Singer of Methodism (akin to David, who was known as The Sweet Singer of Israel, 2 Sam. 23.1).

There was a Reformed Presbyterian minister in the 19th century by the name of Nathan Robinson Johnston (1820-1904, known for his missionary endeavors among the Chinese in California, among other things), who wrote a fascinating biography titled Looking Back From the Sunset Land; or, People Worth Knowing (1898). He was "a lineal descendant of Sir Archibald Johnston, or Lord Warriston whom the Scotch Covenant-breakers hung in Edinburgh," as he himself notes. Among the interesting vignettes of which he writes, there is one involving Sankey that is very poignant. As a Reformed Presbyterian, he held to the practice of exclusive psalmody -- that is, singing the Psalms alone in worship. But he writes candidly of an encounter with Sankey that resonates over a century later.

...together we listened with rapture to Mr. Moody's song companion, Ira D. Sankey. By the way, if ever an 'old Psalm-singer' is tempted to become a hymn-singer it must be at those meetings where everybody joins in chorus with Mr. Sankey in some of his songs as no other can sing them. By the way again, Ira D. Sankey might not be the last one to be brought to our belief in the exclusive use of the inspired songs of the Bible. He has a great admiration for them, and he once said to me that he would like to use them if they were more beautifully versified. His emphasized statement is that in his public singing he is only 'singing the Gospel.' As yet, however, he is far from accurate in his views. Some years ago, in pleasant talk with him in San Francisco, I could not convince him that the 'psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs' mentioned by Paul are all found in the book of the Bible called the 'Book of Psalms.' Nor is Mr. Sankey alone in his opinion. Some good people believe that the 'hymn' which Jesus and his disciples sang after the Passover and before he went out to the Mount of Olives, was only the effusion of some poetic genius among his followers. (Looking Back From the Sunset Land, pp. 569-570)

Early American Presbyterian Literature on Psalmody

Recently, I contributed a blog post to the Log College Press. This is an ongoing project to make accessible American Presbyterian literature from the 18th and 19th centuries in digital format, and eventually, in print. On this occasion, I have compiled in one place a number of works from Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter), Associate Reformed Presbyterian and United Presbyterian sources dealing with the issue of psalmody in worship. There is a lot to read here so feel free to bookmark the post if you are interested. 

Biographies of Reformation, Puritan, Covenanter and Huguenot Women of the Faith

(Miss Katherine G. Myers reading Marie Durand by Simonetta Carr)

I have often been asked to help provide biographical resources regarding leading ladies of the Reformation, Puritan, Scottish Covenanter and French Huguenot eras. Considering the volumes that have been written on Martin Luther’s “Katie” alone, such a list could be endless; but I have attempted here to consolidate the key resources that I would recommend, along with links to these volumes either in print or online for handy reference. I have left out such ladies as Anne Hutchinson, Marie Dentière, and Anna Maria van Schurman (known as “The Tenth Muse”), each of whom would require a separate blog post. There were many godly women who stood alongside the godly men of those days. Their stories are worthy to read and remain inspirational today.

1. J.H. Alexander, Ladies of the Reformation

2. James Anderson, Ladies of the Reformation: Memoirs of Distinquished Female Characters Belonging to the Period of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century... England, Scotland, and the Netherlands

3. James Anderson, The Ladies of the Covenant: Memoirs of distinguished Scottish female characters, embracing the period of the Covenant and the persecution

4. James Anderson, Memorable Women of the Puritan Times (Vol. 1; Vol. 2)

5. Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation: In France and England The great biographer of Martin Luther has also spanned Europe to make known the stories of godly women of the Reformation era.

6. Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation: In Germany and Italy

7. Roland Bainton: Women of the Reformation: From Spain to Scandinavia

8. Donald Beaton, Scottish Heroines of the Faith: Being Brief Sketches of Noble Women of the Reformation and Covenant Times

9. W.P. Breed, Jenny Geddes, or, Presbyterianism And Its Great Conflict With Despotism (See the first chapter particularly)

10. Simonetta Carr, Lady Jane Grey Simonetta Carr has done a great service to the church by her biographies, which are geared towards younger readers.

11. Simonetta Carr, Marie Durand Marie Durand was a French Camisard of whom I have written previously.

13. Simonetta Carr, Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Monata

14.William Chapman, Notable Women of the Covenant: Their Lives and Times

15. Faith Cook, Anne Bradstreet: Pilgrim and Poet Anne Bradstreet was also known as “The Tenth Muse.”

16. Faith Cook, Lady Jane Grey: Nine-Day Queen of England

17. W.H. Davenport Adams, The Sunshine of Domestic Life; or, Sketches of Womanly Virtues, and Stories of the Lives of Noble Women

18. J. Meldrum Dryerre, Heroes and Heroines of the Scottish Covenanters

19. Alice Morse Earle, Margaret Winthrop: Biography of a Puritan Woman, the Wife of John Winthrop, First Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

20. James I. Good, [Famous] Women of the Reformed Church

21. John C. Johnston, Treasury of the Scottish Covenant (see the chapters on “The Women of the Covenant” and “The Wigtown Martyrs”)

21. Ernst Kroker, The Mother of the Reformation: The Amazing Life and Story of Katharine Luther

22. Hope Irvin Marston, Against the Tide: The Valor of Margaret Wilson The story of Margaret Wilson is inspirational, but heart-wrenching, so let the reader be forewarned.

23. J.C. McFeeters, Sketches of the Covenanters (see the chapter titled “The Daughters of the Covenant”)

24. Heidi L. Nichols, Anne Bradstreet: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Puritan Poet

25. Leslie Nuernberg, Only Glory Awaits: The Story of Anne Askew

26. Alexander Smellie, Men of the Covenant (see the chapter titled “Those Women Which Laboured in the Gospel”)

27. Ernst Staehelin, Frau Wibrandis: A Woman in the Time of Reformation

28. Rebecca VanDoodeward, Reformation Women: Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity’s Rebirth

29. John T. Wilkinson, ed., Richard Baxter and Margaret Chilton: A Puritan Love Story; Being the Breviate of the Life of Margaret Baxter (Breviate online; J.I. Packer, A Grief Sanctified)

30. Paul F.M. Zahl, Five Women of the English Reformation The five women are: Anne Boleyn, Katharine Parr, Jane Grey, Anne Askew and Catherine Willoughby.

I wish to also commend the poetry of Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross; the poetry of Anne Locke; the writings of Elizabeth West; the epic poem of Lucy Hutchinson; the memoirs of Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick; and the diary of Margaret Hoby; among other such writings.

Christ is King of the Nations

Jesus Christ, as Mediator, in his office as King, rules not only over the church, but over all things, as Paul says in Ephesians 1:22: "Head over all things to the church." Although disputed by many, yet it has been the distinctive testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the broad testimony of many Reformed divines outside the RP Church, that Christ indeed, as King, does govern all things, and that his kingly rule is not confined merely to the church.

In March 2016 I began to undertake an historical survey of Reformed literature on the subject, and was delighted to see how many Puritans, Huguenots, Reformed Baptists, Dutch Reformed theologians and modern Reformed divines have also affirmed this important aspect of Christ's mediatorial kingly rule. The fruit of my research is a paper which can be found at a new website, which I hope will serve as a resource for those interested in delving further into this topic. It is a chronological survey covering the period from the 1500s to the present day demonstrating that there is broad historic appreciation within the Reformed church for the Covenanter distinctive doctrine that Christ rules over nations as well as the church in his kingly office.

For those who are interested, please bookmark this page for your reference, and I encourage you to not only read the quotes that I have assembled but also to click on the hyperlinks to the authors' own writings, and to study this important and practical, but often neglected, doctrine at greater length. May the Lord bless your studies, and may Christ's crown and covenant be lifted high among the nations.

RBO is the Place to Go

I want to highlight a very valuable website which is fast becoming a go-to repository of some of the best Reformed reading material on the Internet: Reformed Books Online. It is run by my friend Travis Fentiman, who is a licentiate in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). I am a contributor to the site as well. 

There are a number of great websites around which have assembled collections of Reformed literature. I recommend the Post-Reformation Digital Library, Monergism, A Puritan's Mind and others. But as RBO has grown and expanded (and continues to do so weekly), I think it has become a site that all Reformed Christians will find to be simply invaluable as it makes available and accessible material from the time of the Reformation forward to the present on such a wide range of topics that readers of this blog will appreciate.

For example, those interested in Psalmody, Psalters or the Establishment Principle or the writings of the Westminster Divines or Scottish Covenanters will have hours and hours of edifying reading. If you desire to read all Reformed Systematic Theologies available online, and much, much more [see also several recommended reading lists here], RBO is the place to go.

Robert Hamilton: First 'Reformed Presbyterian'

To Sir Robert Hamilton of Preston (1650-October 20/21, 1701) is credit given for the first recorded instance of the term "Reformed Presbyterian,"* which he wrote of himself in his dying declaration. He was:

• A leader of the Scottish Covenanters;
• A combatant at the Battle of Drumclog (June 22, 1679);
• A fugitive from English justice, who was exiled in Holland for many years for his Covenanter convictions;
• The man whose influence led to the Dutch Presbyterian ordination of James Renwick, the last Scottish Covenanter minister to be publicly executed; and he was
• An author of the 1679 Rutherglen Declaration and the 1692 Sanquhar Declaration.

John Howie, biographer of the Covenanters, devoted a chapter to the record of his life in his famous "Scots Worthies." His life indeed was the stuff of heroic adventure novels. Much maligned, ever zealous, hunted and on the run, willing to sacrifice lands and title, "with Moses he made that noble choice, rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season, and did esteem a stedfast adherence to the cause of Christ, (with all the reproaches that followed thereon) greater riches than all his brother's estate. For out of a true love to Jesus Christ, his covenanted cause, interest and people, he laid his worldly honour in the dust, continuing still a companion in the faith, patience, affliction and tribulation of that poor, mean and despised handful of the Lord's witnesses in these lands, who still owned and adhered unto the state of the Lord's covenanted cause in Scotland" (John Howie, Scots Worthies, p. 600).

When he finally returned to Scotland in 1689, he could not in good conscience accede to the Erastian Revolution Settlement. On account of his involvement in publishing the 1692 Sanquhar Declaration, he was arrested and spent some eight months in prison until he was released upon the magistrates' prerogative. After a life spent in the service of Christ's covenanted cause in Scotland, he left this world with a dying testimony in which he stated:

I die a true Protestant, and to my knowledge a reformed Presbyterian, in opposition to popery, prelacy, and malignancy, and whatever is contrary to truth, and the power of godliness, as well against flattering pretenders to unwarrantable zeal on the right hand, as against lukewarmness on the left; adhering with my soul to the holy sweet scriptures, which have often comforted me in the house of my pilgrimage, our confession of faith, our catechisms, the directory for worship, covenants, national and solemn league and covenant, acknowledgment of sins and engagement to duties, with the causes of God's wrath, and to all the faithful public testimonies given against defections of old or late, particularly these contained in the informatory vindication, and that against the toleration, and the two last declarations emitted since this fatal revolution, which testimonies I ever looked upon as a door of hope of the Lord's returning again to these poor backslidden lands.

And now, my dear friends, let nothing discourage you in that way. The Lord will maintain his own cause, and make it yet to triumph. The nearer to-day it may be the darker, but yet in the evening time it shall be light, and the farther distant ye keep from all the courses and interests of this generation, the greater will your peace and security be. O! labour to be in Christ, for him, and like him, much in reading of the holy scriptures, much in prayer and holy unity among yourselves. Be zealous and tender in keeping up your private fellowship for prayer and Christian conference, as also your public correspondences and general meetings, go to them and come from them as these intrusted, really concerned and weighted with Christ's precious controverted truths in Scotland, and labour still to take Christ along with you to all your meetings, and to behave yourselves as under his holy and all-seeing eye when at them, that ye may always return with a blessing from his rich hand. Now farewell, my dear Christian friends, the Lord send us a joyful meeting at his own right hand after time; which shall be the earnest desire, while in time, of your dying friend,

Sic subscribitur,R. HAMILTON.

Matthew Hutchison wrote concerning this testimony:

In such sentiments as these we find the true inner spirit, the real sustaining power of these faithful men. Religion was to them after all much more than a public testifying for the truth; it was a living and walking by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the joy of his holy fellowship upheld them in all their sorrows and trials. 'In Christ, for Him, like Him,' that was the sum of their testimony, that was their aim and their glory.

James Renwick himself once wrote the following witness to the legacy of Robert Hamilton:

But let the world say what it they will, I must say this, and I say it without vanity or flattery, that a little of Robert Hamilton's spirit in such a day as this is very much worth.

John Howie adds:

The faithful Mr. Renwick called him Mi pater, my father, and ever had a high esteem and regard for him, as the contents of most part of his letters bear: Yea, in the very last letter he wrote, he accosts him thus, 'If I had lived and been qualified for writing a book, and if it had been dedicated to any, you would have been the man; for I have loved you, and I have peace before God in that; and I bless his name that ever I have been acquainted with you, &c.'

* "He left a written testimony to the cause for which he had laboured and suffered, urging his brethren to unwavering steadfastness and watchfulness against defections. In this deed, we find for the first time that we have noticed, the combination of the words that afterwards became the designation of the church, "I die a true Protestant, and to my knowledge a Reformed Presbyterian." (Matthew Hutchison, The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland: Its Origin and History, 1680-1876, p. 138)

"How We Got the Name Reformed Presbyterian
...
The first recorded use of the term was in 1701. In that year Robert Hamilton died. Among his last words were these: 'I die a true Protestant, and to my knowledge a Reformed Presbyterian.'" (Peter Lippincott, ed., Psalm Singing of the Covenanters, p. 19)

The Covenanter 'Canon'

Note: Despite the title, this is not a post about Scottish Covenanter military history. J

Psalm tunes, in my own view, are a circumstantial aspect of worship, not governed by the regulative principle of worship, but by “the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed” (WCF 1.6). That said, it is human nature to have favorite tunes, and the Scots who employed the 1650 Psalter were historically no exception. 

When the 1650 Psalter was first published, it was tuneless, or “words-only.” The first collection of tunes used by the Scots in conjunction with the 1650 Psalter was published in 1666 by an Aberdeen printer [John Forbes]. It contained a “canon” of 12 tunes, plus one other. "By the end of the [17th] century these twelve [Common Tune, King's Tune, Duke's Tune, English Tune, French, London (London New), Stilt (York), Dunfermline, Dundee, Abbey, Martyrs, Elgin -- although there is some variation to this list according to other sources] were canonized as embodying the accepted and inexpansible musical tradition of the Church of Scotland. At that point the canon was closed, and it remained fixed for a long time subsequently. All twelve (Bon Accord being an extra) were common-metre tunes. Even the finest of the old tunes in other metres were forgotten....In view of these facts the conclusion is irresistible that the true Covenanters' tunes are to be found only within the restricted number named." (Millar Patrick, Four Centuries of Scottish Psalmody, pp. 111-112) 

Why Study the History of the Scottish Covenanters?

F.F. Bruce, Foreword to J.D. Douglas, The Light in the North, pp. 7-8:

At first blush the inclusion of a whole volume on the Scottish Covenanters in a series covering two thousand years of Christian history may be put down to an excess of provincialism on someone's part. But the inclusion of this volume is due to something more than an exaggerated estimate of the importance of seventeenth-century Scotland in the on-going story of the Church in the world. Thucydides wrote the history of the Peloponnesian War not simply because of the part which it played in his own career, but also because in the record of this conflict, waged over a period of twenty-seven years between the leading states of the Greek world, he discerned principles and patters of action which tended to recur in the fortunes of men and nations. So, too, the story of the Scottish Covenanters, limited as it is in space and time, brings out in sharp outline a crucial issue which the Christian Church has had to face from its earliest days, and which is as acute today as ever it was. 

This issue is not the question whether episcopacy or presbytery is the more apostolic order. To this question there are more than two possible answers. The issue is that of the relation between Church and State. The highest authority that Christians recognize bids them "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." But it is not easy to fix the limits of those things that are Caesar's, and less easy than ever when Caesar himself turns Christian. Extreme positions were taken up on either side in seventeenth-century Scotland, when the divine right of kings was opposed by the divine right of presbytery -- the divine right of presbytery, moreover, not only in the Scottish Kirk but in England and Ireland as well. The kindly, tolerant, hospitable English people have often been bewildered, and at times even exasperated, by the stiff-necked behaviour of the other nations that share with them the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, with their inordinate sense of history and their contempt for the suggestion of reasonable compromise when principles are at stake. Even where a national symbol like the Stone of Destiny is concerned, Scots know where they stand on the point of legal principle and call from time to time upon the sister nation to honour the Treaty of Northampton. But it was not national honour that was at stake in the seventeenth century, but the Crown Rights of the Redeemer -- the claim of Christ to be Master in His own house. On this principle an Aberdeen doctor will insist as strenously as the most zealous Protestor from the west lands. 

For, whatever may be thought about the interpretation which Andrew Melville and his followers put upon the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, it is a fundamental Christian doctrine. On the one hand, there are still times when it must be emphasized that the civil ruler, as such, even when he is a Christian, has no authority in church councils beyond that of the humblest church member. On the other hand, the obedience which a Christian man, or the Christian community, owes to the civil ruler, even when the ruler is a Christian, is never absolute. There are times when it may be not merely a Christian right, but a Christian duty, to disobey the civil ruler: when his claims clash with the law of God, the Christian will say with the apostles: "We must obey God rather than men." Where men so conscious of their Christian right and duty as the Covenanters were confronted by men so blindly insistent on imposing their own will as the Stuarts, the resultant conflict revealed the issues involved with exceptional clarity.

What is Worth Living For is Worth Fighting and Dying For

In his poem "On Seeing the Reformation Monument, Geneva," the Hungarian poet Gyula Illyes, writes (What You Have Almost Forgotten, p. 67) in connection with religious wars, such as the Thirty Years' War, of a famous Hungarian riddle:

The net result, written upon the blackboard --
-- the continent you wiped clean with your armies --
was the mere answer to a foolish riddle,
and that only possible in Hungarian,
where Protestants call themselves 'keresztyen'
and Catholics call themselves 'keresztyeny'
both meaning 'Christian'. And so the riddle runs:
'Why is a keresztyen more than a kereszteny?'
Did you really require the blood
of so many millions dead, before
you could distill this particle of sense,
this little 'y', and when, forgetful of
your duty, you took up the sword and hacked
the Gordian knot of Christian brotherhood,

Many look at history, with its religious wars, crusades, Irish Troubles, and all the spilled blood in the name of Jesus, and ask, Why should anyone fight for religion? In nomine Domini incipit omne malum—In the name of the Lord begins all evil; or so the saying goes. The spectre of the Catholic Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Islamic Taliban, and most especially, an "old Testament God," are all often invoked whenever the concept of fighting for religious liberty is addressed in modern discourse.

The image of conversion by the sword, though it has no historical connection to Calvin's Geneva, Knox's Scotland or Winthrop's Massachusetts, is a powerful lens through which myopic moderns view all religious wars of the past. Forgotten is the defensive nature of the Dutch and Puritan Declarations of Independence, forgotten is the tyranny which the Huguenots resisted with their lives for the sake of conscience, forgotten is the fact that Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, wished to impose Catholic uniformity of worship upon his Protestant subjects, which provoked the Thirty Year's War.

There are those who believe that it is unlawful for any Christians to take up the sword in defense of anything. There are also those who question whether it is worth fighting for or dying for anything.

Albert Camus:

There are causes worth dying for, but none worth killing for.

I would contend, however, that whatsoever is worth living for is worth fighting for (lawfully) and, if need be, dying for. Life, liberty, true religion, these all matter enough to fight for and die for.

Aragorn (The Fellowship of the Ring):

If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword.

A good man will give his life for his friends, John 15.13; Rom. 5.7. According to the Scriptures, a man, even an unbeliever, who gives his life for his friends, family or country, or even a stranger, has done something noble, a civil good, and is therefore a hero.

William Wallace (Braveheart):

Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!

On a personal as well as a national level, there are many reasons to take up arms. It is a matter of wisdom, and certainly many foolish reasons, often rooted in pride or the love of money, have been the basis for many bloody conflicts throughout human history, often with a veneer of religious justification attached to them. The Anglo-Dutch trade wars of the 17th century, between two ostensibly Protestant nations were a disgrace and a grief to the godly of that age. In our day, the spectacle of wars in the Middle East over oil is repugnant to most of us, and rightly so (I speak in general not necessarily of the current conflicts in Afghanistan or Iraq). National pride is a terrible reason to sacrifice the precious blood of its heroic men.

Chariots of Fire:

Lord Cadogan: Hear, hear. In my day it was King first and God after.
Duke of Sutherland: Yes, and the War To End Wars bitterly proved your point!

Duke of Sutherland: A sticky moment, George.
Lord Birkenhead: Thank God for Lindsay. I thought the lad had us beaten.
Duke of Sutherland: He did have us beaten, and thank God he did.
Lord Birkenhead: I don't quite follow you.
Duke of Sutherland: The "lad", as you call him, is a true man of principles and a true athlete. His speed is a mere extension of his life, its force. We sought to sever his running from himself.
Lord Birkenhead: For his country's sake, yes.
Lord Birkenhead: No sake is worth that, least of all a guilty national pride.

The use of Jesus' name to justify the unlawful taking of human life is a matter of grief to all who count his name precious. It should be remembered that just because his name is put forth as justification for the taking of life -- which is not even the case with the Taliban -- does not mean that it is done according to the mind of Christ (ie., with respect to the sixth commandment). Yet, where he has called us by his Word and Providence to protect that which is good and precious, we have a duty to fight and, if need be, to die in defense of the good.

J.W. Campbell:

I think it is true to say that religious truth, being the greatest thing in the world, is worth fighting for, and if attacked should be defended at all costs.

The kingdom of God, though spiritual, is not at odds with civil liberty, but rather it alone provides the true basis for it. And those charged with upholding civil liberty -- magistrates, and the soldiers and law enforcement officers under them, in the lawful exercise of their just duties -- bear the sword not in vain to protect the good and punish the evil, Rom. 13.4 (hence we pray for kings and all those in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness [first table of the law] and honesty [second table of the law], 1 Tim. 2.2).

John Kennedy of Dingwall:

[The Establishment Principle is not only] worth living for, but a principle worth dying for.

Of all the causes to fight and die for, those of life and civil liberty and, most especially, true religious freedom, are most excellent. To fight and die for the life and freedom of others, when called upon by Providence, is noble and virtuous; to fight and die in defense of the Lord's cause, when the circumstances are just and appropriate, is truly "precious in the Lord's sight" (Ps. 116.15).

Patrick Henry:

What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

The Scottish Covenanters who fought -- defensively -- for Christ's Crown & Covenant were also heroes. They took up arms not for personal gain, nor for economic profit or clannish pride, but for the prerogatives of the true head and king of the Church. True religion is the most precious of causes for which to fight and die, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. 16.25; see also Matt. 10.39; 16.26; Mark. 8.35; Luke 9.24; John 12.25; etc.)


Robert Burns, The Solemn League and Covenant:

The Solemn League and Covenant
Now brings a smile, now brings a tear;
But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs:
If thou'rt a slave, indulge thy sneer.

The Flower of Flowers

"God has made many fair flowers; but the fairest of them all is heaven, and the Flower of all flowers is Christ." -- Samuel Rutherford

350th Anniversary of Rutherford Translation

Today marks the 350th anniversary of Samuel Rutherford's greatest translation. We are, of course, still waiting for the full and complete translation of his great treastise on Providence, Disputatio Scholastica de Divina Providentia (1649), and his systematic theology, Examen Arminianismi (1668), but it was on March 29, 1661, that the great Scottish Covenanter minister left this world and was translated to the next.

We do well to remember his life and legacy. There have been many biographical sketches written of him, including this recent article by Guy Richard which touches on a chapter in Rutherford's life which reveals his human frailty, a scandal which demonstrates the depth of God's amazing grace. I recommend visiting this website devoted to his life and works for a helpful introduction. It is my aim in this post only to highlight select aspects of the "little, fair man," who showed us "the loveliness of Christ."

• A Scottish Covenanter and commissioner to the Westminster Assembly, he was not ashamed to be known as a Puritan. Letters (1894 ed.), p. 512:

I assure you, howbeit we be nicknamed Puritans, that all the powers of the world shall not prevail against us.

• He authored, according to Guy Richard, "13 major theological treatises in his lifetime, amounting to just over 7,000 pages of text, not to mention other works, including sermons, letters, an in-depth catechism (totaling 562 questions and answers--over five times the number in the Westminster Shorter Catechism), and a variety of political writings, all of which add nearly 3,000 pages to the total [as well as] a commentary on Isaiah, which has tragically been lost, and several unpublished manuscripts and sermons."

• His Lex, Rex (1644) helped to solidify the theological groundwork for both the English Puritan Revolution and the American Presbyterian Revolution. He wrote:

I lay down this maxim of divinity: Tyranny being a work of Satan, is not from God, because sin, either habitual or actual, is not from God: the power that is, must be from God; the magistrate, as magistrate, is good in nature of office, and the intrinsic end of his office, (Rom. xiii. 4) for he is the minister of God for thy good; and, therefore, a power ethical, politic, or moral, to oppress, is not from God, and is not a power, but a licentious deviation of a power; and is no more from God, but from sinful nature and the old serpent, than a license to sin.

• His Letters are considered to be among the greatest classics of Christian devotional literature. Charles Spurgeon wrote, "When we are dead and gone let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford’s Letters to be the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men" (The Sword and Trowel, 189).

• He authored the wise maxim, "Duties are ours, events are God's." Letters, CXVII (1637), p. 238:

Providence hath a thousand keys, to open a thousand sundry doors for the deliverance of His own, when it is even come to a conclamatum est ["all is over"]. Let us be faithful, and care for our own part, which is to do and suffer for Him, and lay Christ's part on Himself, and leave it there. Duties are ours, events are the Lord's.

• There are no known contemporary portraits of Rutherford. Andrew Bonar writes:

If ever there was any portrait of him, it is not now known. The portraits sometimes given of him are all imaginary. We are most familiar with the likeness of his soul.

• On his death-bed, Rutherford uttered the immortal dying words, "Glory, glory, dwelleth in Immanuel's Land." These words were also uttered a century later by Thomas Halyburton, the great Scottish Reformed minister, on his own death-bed. Halyburton's request to be buried next to Rutherford was honored, as evidenced by this picture of their tombstones side-by-side here. Rutherford's dying words also inspired an hymn (The Sands of Time Are Sinking) and a poem (Immanuel's Land) by Annie Ross Cousin:

The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of Heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for — the fair, sweet morn awakes:

Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand,

And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

• The following tribute is written on his grave.

An Epitaph on His Grave-Stone

What tongue, what pen, or skill of men

Can famous Rutherford commend!

His learning justly rais'd his fame

True goodness did adorn his name.

He did converse with things above,

Acquainted with Immanuel's love.

Most orthodox he was and sound,

And many errors did confound.

For Zion's King, and Zion's cause,

And Scotland's covenanted laws,

Most constantly he did contend,

Until his time was at an end.

At last he won to full fruition

Of that which he had seen in vision.

• Viewed by those around him as one of the most humble saints of his or any other age, Rutherford described himself thus: "I am made of extremes" (Letters, CLXVIII (1637), p. 315). Alexander Whyte, Samuel Rutherford and Some of His Correspondents, p. 16-18:
  

And yet again, what others thought of him, and how they treated him, compared with what he knew himself to be, caused Rutherford many a bitter reflection. Every letter he got consulting him and appealing to him as if he had been God's living oracle made him lie down in the very dust with shame and self-abhorrence. Writing on one occasion to Robert Blair he told him that his letter consulting him about some matter of Christian experience had been like a blow in the face to him; it affects me much, said Rutherford, that a man like you should have any such opinion of me. And, apologising for his delay in replying to a letter of Lady Boyd's, he says that he is put out of all love of writing letters because his correspondents think things about him that he himself knows are not true. 'My white side comes out on paper— but at home there is much black work. All the challenges that come to me are true.' There was no man then alive on the earth so much looked up to and consulted in the deepest matters of the soul, in the secrets of the Lord with the soul, as Rutherford was, and his letters bear evidence on every page that there was no man who had a more loathsome and a more hateful experience of his own heart, not even Taylor, not even Owen, not even Bunyan, not even Baxter. What a day of extremest men that was, and what an inheritance we extreme men have had left us, in their inward, extreme, and heavenly books!

Once more, hear him on the tides of feeling that continually rose and fell within his heart. Writing from Aberdeen to Lady Boyd, he says: 'I have not now, of a long time, found such high spring-tides as formerly. The sea is out, and I cannot buy a wind and cause it to flow again; only I wait on the shore till the Lord sends a full sea.... But even to dream of Him is sweet.' And then, just over the leaf, to Marion M'Naught: 'I am well: honour to God.... He hath broken in upon a poor prisoner's soul like the swelling of Jordan. I am bank and brim full: a great high spring-tide of the consolations of Christ hath overwhelmed me'.. But sweet as it is to read his rapturous expressions when the tide is full, I feel it far more helpful to hear how he still looks and waits for the return of the tide when the tide is low, and when the shore is full, as all left shores are apt to be, of weeds and mire, and all corrupt and unclean things. Rutherford is never more helpful to his correspondents than when they consult him about their ebb tides, and find that he himself either has been, or still is, in the same experience.

But why do we disinter such texts as this out of such an author as Samuel Rutherford? Why do we tell to all the world that such an eminent saint was full of such sad extremes? Well, we surely do so out of obedience to the divine command to comfort God's people; for, next to their having no such extremes in themselves, their next best comfort is to be told that great and eminent saints of God have had the very same besetting sins and staggering extremes as they still have. If the like of Samuel Rutherford was vexed and weakened with such intellectual contradictions and spiritual extremes in his mind, in his heart and in his history, then may we not hope that some such saintliness, if not some such service as his, may be permitted to us also?

Rutherford's Christian Directions

Samuel Rutherford, Letter CLIX, in Letters of Samuel Rutherford, pp. 292-295:

To John Fleming, Bailie of Leith [Letter LXVIII.]

Worthy and Dearly Beloved in the Lord, -- Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. I received your letter. I wish that I could satisfy your desire in drawing up, and framing for you, a Christian directory. But the learned have done it before me more judiciously than I can; especially Mr. [Daniel] Rogers, [Richard] Greenham and [William] Perkins. Notwithstanding, I shall show you what I would have been at myself; howbeit I came always short of my purpose.

1. That hours of the day, less or more time, for the word and prayer, be given to God; not sparing the twelfth hour, or mid-day, howbeit it should then be the shorter time.

2. In the midst of worldly employments, there should be some thoughts of sin, death, judgment, and eternity, with at least a word or two of ejaculatory prayer to God.

3. To beware of wandering of heart in private prayers.

4. Not to grudge, howbeit ye come from prayer without sense of joy. Down-casting, sense of guiltiness, and hunger, are often best for us.

5. That the Lord's-day, from morning to night, be spent always either in private or public worship.

6. That words be observed, wandering and idle thoughts be avoided, sudden anger and desire of revenge, even of such as persecute the truth, be guarded against; for we often mix our zeal with our wild-fire.

7. That known, discovered, and revealed sins, that are against the conscience, be eschewed, as most dangerous preparatives to hardness of heart.

8. That in dealing with men, faith and truth in covenants and trafficking be regarded, that we deal with all men in sincerity; that conscience be made of idle and lying words; and that our carriage be such, as that they who see it may speak honourably of our sweet Master and profession.
...
There are some things, also, whereby I have been helped, as -- 1. I have been benefited by riding alone a long journey, in giving that time to prayer. 2. By abstinence, and giving days to God. 3. By praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them, I have gotten something for myself. 4. I have been really confirmed, in many particulars, that God heareth prayers; and, therefore, I used to pray for anything, of how little importance soever. 5. He enabled me to make no question, that this mocked way, which is nicknamed, is the only way to heaven.

Self-Preservation Must Stoop to Truth-Preservation

John H. Thompson, A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ: Being the Last Speeches and Testimonies of Those Who Have Suffered For the Truth in Scotland, Since the Year 1680, pp. 247, 294-295, 371:

[James Robertson, died December 15, 1682]: "Now, ye who are charging me this day, and others of my brethren, sufferers for the truth, to be guilty of self-murder, and so a breach of the sixth commandment (which is very false, for self-preservation must stoop to truth's preservation), did our blessed Lord establish an advocate to plead for Him? Did that valiant champion Stephen do it? but was free and positive in asserting his testimony. Or did Paul do it? Or show me any such precept or practice from Scripture? Yea, consider the nature of witnessing; it proveth the contrary; but I prove such as do this to be actually guilty of the breach of the second commandment, which is that, 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image' (Exod. xx. 4). For, as I have proved before, he is set up in Christ's room, and exerciseth authority in and by that abominable arrogate Supremacy, having intermixed things civil with ecclesiastic, by their Acts of Parliament, making them both alike inherent to the crown, and so cannot be owned in either, without sacrilegious idolatry, and so a breach of this commandment. As also of the fifth commandment, which concerneth natural or civil parents, which are to be owned and obeyed only in the Lord, which cannot in the least allow of any man's being absolutely supreme, even in civil matters; it being the ordinance of God, and a lawful magistrate the minister of God, bound to dispense His ordinance, according to His rule in the word, and according to the ancient laws of the kingdom. For, as in the obeying of lawful power, it is obedience to this commandment; so, upon the contrary, the owning and obeying an unlawful power (such as theirs), certainly must be a breach of it.

[John Nisbet, the Younger, died April 14, 1683]: "Now, these that are charging me with self-murder, which is a breach of the sixth commandment, are very false; for self-preservation must stoop to truth's preservation. And further, I have that much of humanity, that I love my life, but cannot redeem it with the loss of my integrity; but I prove such as do these things which they would have me to do, are actually guilty of the breach of the second commandment, which is, 'Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image;' for I cannot say, but it is a worshipping of images to yield to them in these things, now when they have seated themselves in Christ's room. Therefore I exhort you all, to beware of joining with them in their sins, lest ye partake with them in their plagues, now when they have made it manifest, that they will have no king but Charles Stuart. Wherefore I think it is our duty to cleave to Christ; we must either quit Christ or Charles.

[James Nisbet, died June 5, 1684]: "It is true none can merit heaven by their sufferings, but it is as true that He has said, 'He that will not forsake all and take up his cross and follow me, he cannot be my disciple.' Now I know there are many will brand me with self-murder, because I have got so many an offer to go Carolina upon such easy terms. But as to that I answer, Self-preservation must stoop to truth's preservation. There are indeed many of this generation who pretend to keep their present ease and to be followers of Christ; but I defy any, if they be called to a public testimony, but they shall either lose their present possession, or else that which is of more worth, even their immortal souls and everlasting salvation.

The Covenanters' Grace

Long before it was popularized as "The Selkirk Grace" by Robert Burns, this saying was often recited "in the south-western province of Scotland before the days of Burns. [It was] always called the Covenanter's Grace" (Robert Chambers, Select Writings of Robert Chambers, Vol. 7, p. 317):

Some hae meat that canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
For which the Lord be thankit!

Semper Reformanda

It was Jodocus van Lodenstein, Dutch Puritan, who first coined the saying Ecclesia semper reformanda est ("the church must always be reforming") (Michael Bush, "Calvin and the Reformanda Sayings," in Herman J. Selderhuis, ed., Calvinus sacrarum literarum interpres: Papers of the International Congress on Calvin Research (2008), p. 286).

Andrew Symington, The Principles of the Second Reformation:

The period commencing in 1638, and continuing for the ten years which follow, has been usually known, in the ecclesiastical history of this country, by the designation of the Second Reformation, to distinguish it from a period of longer duration in the preceding century, usually called from its priority, not its excellence, the First Reformation.

Cotton Mather, Introduction to Magnalia Christi Americana, Vol. 1, p. 26:

'Tis very certain, that the first Reformers never intended that what they did should be the absolute boundary of Reformation, so that it should be a sin to proceed any further; as, by their going beyond Wicklift, and changing and growing in their own Models also, and by the confessions of Cranmer, with the Scripta Anglicana of Bucer, and a thousand other things, was abundantly demonstrated.

James Kerr, A Third Reformation Necessary: or, The Piety, Principles, and Patriotism of Scotland's Covenanted Martyrs; With Application to the Present Times:

In the Reformations in the times of Luther, and Knox, and Henderson, the people awoke from their lethargies and rose up in new life to carry on the work to its completion. Be up then and doing, we beseech you, and, by the help of Almighty God, we may yet succeed in driving the battle to the gate. The restoring of the ruined temple of the Covenanted Reformation, and thereby the effecting of a Third Reformation for Scotland,—this is the work of the present hour, the work of every true patriot, of every lover of the Church, of every lover of Christ’s crowns. "When Christ comes," said Richard Cameron, "to raise up His own work in Scotland, He will not want men enough to do it." May He come soon, then, to raise up His tabernacle that is fallen, and restore it from ruins, as in days of old! Awake! why sleepest Thou? Pluck Thy hand, even Thy right hand, out of Thy bosom. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, Most Mighty, and ride forth for the sake of truth, and meekness, and righteousness. Take to Thee Thy power and reign. Reign over Scotland, and over Ireland, and over England. Reign over Europe, and over Asia, and over Africa, and over America. Take the throne of every heart, and the throne of every household, and the throne of every community, and the throne of every church, and the throne of every nation, and the thrones of all worlds; and let every knee bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

"Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet
Thou to Mount Zion shalt extend;
Her time for favour which was set,
Behold! is now come to an end.

"Thy saints take pleasure in her stones;
Her very dust to them is dear;
All heathen lands and kingly thrones
On earth Thy glorious name shall fear."

And, when this sublime prophecy of Old Testament times shall have been fulfilled, there shall go up from the redeemed and emancipated millions of the broad earth, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, the triumphant ascription,—"Alleluia! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!"

Cased in Adamant

William Wordsworth, The Ecclesiastical Sonnets 3.7:

Persecution of the Scottish Covenanters

When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry,
The Majesty of England interposed
And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed;
And Faith preserved her ancient purity.
How little boots that precedent of good,
Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify,
For England's shame, O Sister Realm! from wood,
Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie
The headless martyrs of the Covenant,
Slain by Compatriot-protestants that draw
From councils senseless as intolerant
Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword-law;
But who would force the Soul, tilts with a straw
Against a Champion cased in adamant.

Sweet Counsel

The man whose efforts made it possible for Samuel Rutherford to be installed as pastor at Anwoth was Sir John Gordon, later 1st Viscount of Kenmure, an ardent Puritan Presbyterian. It is recorded that his role in this regard was "the most meritorious action of my life." He died young in 1634 at about the age of 35, and was attended by Rutherford on his deathbed. It is Rutherford to whom is attributed authorship of an anonymous tract published soon thereafter entitled The Last and Heavenly Speeches, and Glorious Departure, of John, Viscount Kenmure, and it is thought that Rutherford is the "Pastor" spoken of therein.

Among the last counsels given by Gordon on his deathbed, Rutherford records that he spoke thus to "a young man his neighbor":

...because you are but a young man beware of temptations and snares, and above all, be careful to keep your self in the use of means, resort to good companie, and howbeit you be nicknamed a Puritan and mocked, yet care not for that but rejoyce and be glad, that they who are scorned and scoffed by this godless and vain world, and nick-named Puritans, would admit you to their societie, for I must tell you when I am at this point as you see me, I get no comfort to my soul by no second means under Heaven, but from these who are nick named Puritans; They are the men that can give a word of comfort to a wearied soul in due season, and that I have found by experience since I did lie down here.

Peden's Notes on the Covenant of Redemption

Alexander Peden:

I recommend these views, thoughts and notes upon the Covenant of Redemption, as the extract of God's love, that in crosses and out of crosses ye may rejoice.

Be it known to all men, that, in the presence of the Ancient of Days, it was finally contracted, and unanimously agreed, betwixt these honourable and royal persons in the God-head, to wit, the great and infinite Lord of Heaven and earth, on the one side; and Jesus Christ, God-man, his eternal and undoubted heir, on the other side, in manner, form and effect, as follows; That forasmuch as the Lord Jesus Christ is content and obliges himself to become surety, and to fulfil the whole law; and that he shall suffer and become an offering for sin, and take the guiding [management] of all the children of God on him, and make them perfect in every good word and work; and that of his fulness they shall all receive grace for grace; and also present them, man, wife and bairns, on Heaven's floor, and lose none of them; and that he shall raise them up at the last day, and come in on Heaven's floor with all the bairns at his back: therefore, the noble Lord of Heaven and earth, on the other side, binds and obliges himself to Christ, to send all the Elect into the world, and to deliver them all fairly to Christ; and also to give him a body, flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone; and to carry Christ through in all his undertaking in that work, and to hold him by the hand: and also, let the Holy Ghost, who is our equal, go forth into the world, that he may be sharer in this great work, and also of the glory of this noble contrivance; and let him enlighten the minds of all those whom we have chosen out of the world, in the knowledge of our name; and to convince them of their lost state; and perswade and enable them to embrace and accept of his free love offer; and to support and comfort them in all their trials and tribulations, especially these for our name's sake; and to sanctifie them, soul and body, and make them fit for serving us, and dwelling with us, and singing forth the praises of the riches of our free grace in this noble contrivance, for ever and ever. Likewise, the same noble Lord of Heaven and earth doth fully covenant grace and glory, and all good things, to as many as shall be perswaded and enabled to accept and embrace you, as their Lord, King and God: and moreover, he allows the said Jesus Christ to make proclamations by his servants, to the world in his name, that all that will come and engage under his colours, he shall give them noble pay in hand for the present, and a rich inheritance for ever; with certification, that all those who will not accept of this offer, for the same cause, shall be guilty and eternally condemned from our presence, and tormented with these devils, whom we cast out from us, for their pride and rebellion, for the glory of our justice, through eternity.

In testimony whereof, he subscribes thir [these] presents, and is content the same be registrate in the Books of Holy Scripture, to be kept on record to future generations. Dated at the throne of Heaven, in the ancient records of eternity.

The Duty of Nations

James R. Willson, Political Danger: Essays on the Mediatorial Kingship of Christ over nations and their political institutions 1809-1838, ed., Gordon J. Keddie, pp: 260-261:

Nations Must Acknowledge Christ

Nations are bound, in the constitutions of their government, to recognize formally the authority of the Mediator as their King.

The duty of nations as nations

It is the duty of all individuals who compose a nation to obey Christ. Therefore, the collective body should expressly acknowledge Emmanuel as sovereign Lord. This recognition ought to be embodied in the fundamental law of the empire. When every person in the commonwealth "is under the law to Christ" (1 Cor. 9:21), the whole nation, in its convention representing all, is bound by the law of God, to do homage to Him "who is Lord of all." "All the parts are equal...to the whole" (William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England [London, 1791], Book II, p. 164). As then, when acting apart, every man owes allegiance to Christ, so, when acting together, they cannot nationally be freed from their [obligation] to "the King of kings." "And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:23). "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake" (1 Pet. 2:13). Man, who is subject to Christ, ordains civil government by the will of the majority, in the name of the Lord. And this is the formal reason of the willing submission, or obedience. It is for the Lord Christ's sake, from whom the people derive their right to frame the government, by whom the moral laws of the empire are enacted, whose honor and glory are to be promoted, and for whose sake alone that allegiance is due to this ordinance of man.