sall be willing, even in the day of His power; that is, in the day of
the power of Jesus Christ. The day of His own resurrection from the dead
was one day of His power: He says, "I have power to lay down My life,
and I have power to take it again;" "Destroy this temple, and I will
build it up again in three days;" He meant of the temple of His body:
and indeed there was none who could raise His dead body out of the
grave, but only Himself. A second day of His power sall be the day of
the resurrection of our bodies out of the dust. But there is another day
that is meant of here than any of these, and that is the day of our
first resurrection out of the grave of sin, by the preaching of the
gospel. And there is good reason for it, why this should be called a day
of His power. First, because it is the power of Jesus Christ that brings
the purity of the gospel into a land; and we may indeed say that it was
only His power that brought the gospel into this land. It had not
authority then to countenance it, for all those that were in authority
were against it; and counsel and policy, and all the clergy, and the
multitude, all of them, were against it; and yet, for all that, the
Lord brought in the purity of the gospel into this land, and established
it here against all these. Secondly, when the purity of the gospel is
into a land, it is only the power of God that makes it effectual for
turning of souls unto Himself, and raising them out of the grave of sin,
wherein they are so fast buried. So when the Lord first sends the
gospel, we are lying into the grave of sin; and the devil, and the
world, and all these enemies they are watching the grave, to see that we
rise not out of it; and when we are beginning to rise they are busy to
hold us down. And think not that we can rise, and lift up ourselves from
so base to so high ane estate, without the power of God. No, no. Third.
When the gospel is into a land, it is only the power of Jesus Christ
that makes it to continue, for if the Lord make not the gospel to
continue into a land, it will not stay there. And there is no less power
required either to bring the gospel into a land, or to make it
effectual, or to make it to continue, than was required to raise the
dead body of Christ out of the grave, or will be required to raise ours.
I would have you consider here, that all times are not alike, but there
is a time of the Lord's power; that all days are not alike, but there is
a day of the Lord's power; a time when the saints of God sall be weak, a
time when they sall be strong; a time when some sall rise up to
persecute the saints, a time when others sall rise up to help them; a
time when the Lord withholds His power, and a time when He kythes (shews
it); a time when the people draws back from the Lord, and a time when
they turn to Him again. There has been a day of defection in this land
this time past, and now there is a time of the Lord's power in bringing
back this defection again: and indeed this very instant time that now is
is ane hour of that day of the Lord's power, and I will shew you two or
three reasons for it. 1. The Lord did arise and manifested His power
when the enemies were become insolent, and when they had determined that
they would set up such a mode of worship as they thought meet, and
noways according to the pattern shown upon the mount. And indeed the
Lord, He uses ordinarily to do this, that even when the enemies of His
people are become insolent, and they have determined that they will do
such a thing instantly, then He takes them in their own snare. 2. To
show that it is the Lord's power only that works a work, He uses to
begin at very small beginnings; and so the Lord did in this same
work;--He began at first with some few, and these not honourable, and
yet now He has made it to cover the whole land through all the quarters
thereof. 3. This is also a note of the power of God, that He has touched
the hearts of people, that there was never such a howling and a weeping
heard amongst them this long time as there is now; and yet it is not a
weeping for sorrow, but a weeping for joy. How oft has there been
preachings in the most part of the congregations of this land this long
time past, and yet people have never found the power of it in working
upon their hearts; and yet within this short space, when the Lord has
renewed His covenant with them, and they with Him, He has displayed His
banner, and made His power known in working upon the hearts of people.
4. In this the power of God is manifestly to be seen in this work, that
the Lord has made all the devices and plots of the adversars, that they
have devised to further their own ends, to work contrair to these ends,
and to work for the good of His own work. And, indeed, we may say that
it has not been so mickle the courage and wisdom of these, that has been
for this cause, that has brought it so far on, but the very plots and
devices of the adversars that they have devised for their own good. This
also is ane evident token of the Lord's power.
And now since the Lord did arise when the enemies were become insolent,
since He began at so small beginnings and has brought it so far, since
the Lord has wrought so on the hearts of people now, and since He has
made all the plots of the enemies to work against themselves, and for
His people, let us give this glory to God, and reverence Him, and say
that it is only by His power that the work is done, and that He has been
pleased to manifest Himself into the work. Beloved, we may comfort
ourselves in this, if all this has been done by the power of God, then
we need not to fear the power of men; men can do nothing against God.
The Lord may indeed put His kirk to a trial, but He will not suffer her
to be overthrown by any. And indeed, any who hears and knows what the
enemies are doing here may see that they are not fighting against men,
but against God, and that they are kicking against the pricks.
III. Now, for the properties of thir people. The first of them is
_willing_. The Lord's people are a people of willingness in the day of
His power: and indeed thir three go very well together, the people of
God, the power of God, and a willing people. When the power of God works
upon His people then He makes them to be a willing people. And indeed,
it is no small matter to see a people willing in a good cause, for by
nature we are unwilling, and naturally we are not set to affect anything
that is right, except it be through hypocrisy. Our hearts they are
contrary to God; they are proud, disobedient, rebellious, and he who
sees and knows his own heart sees all this to be in it; and he knows
that it is the Lord who cries upon him, in the day of His own power, and
frames his heart in a new mould, and makes it to be so nimble and
cheerful in any good work,--that albeit they had been before running
with all their speed to the devil, yet He makes them to stand still in
the way and look about them, and consider what they have been doing, and
then to turn about again. Albeit thou were like to Paul, persecuting the
Church, yet He can then make a preacher of thee, and so affright thee
that thou sall not know where thou art, but say, "Here am I, Lord:" and
albeit thou were as unwilling to go as the prophet Moses, yet He will
make thee to say, "Here am I, Lord, send me," and be as Elisha, when
Elias cuist (cast) his mantle about him, then he could not stay any
longer. And when Christ comes to Peter, and calls upon them, they cannot
stay any longer, but incontinent they leave all and follows Him. I will
not now begin to make any large discourse of the invincible power of
God; I say no more of it now but only this for your use. If ye kent this
power of God, it would make you ready and willing to give a confession
to Him this day, and even to confess Him before men, and to forsake all
and follow Him. Ye who are ignorant of the power of God, take heed to
this,--it is the Lord who commanded light to come out of darkness, who
must make you to see Christ; He who takes His rod in His hand to beat
down the hard and humble the haughty heart, He must do this also. O if
ye felt this power of God, ye would think nothing to forsake all and to
follow Him. He has suffered more for us nor we can suffer for Him; and
if we suffered anything for Him, He would not suffer any of us yet to be
a loser at His hand: but we cannot put Him to a trial.
Now for this unwillingness of these people, it is well expressed here.
They are called a people of willingness. And yet He thinks not this
satisfactory, to call them a willing people, but He calls them a people
of willingness, a noble, generous, high-minded people. And all this is
to shew that when the people of God is wakened up in the day of His
power, there is none who is able to express their willingness. They are
so willing that if they had a thousand minds they would employ them all
for Him, and if they had a thousand faces, they would not let one of
them look down, but they would hold them all up for the Lord; if every
hair in their head were a man, they would employ them all in His
service. Their willingness, indeed, it cannot be expressed. They cry to
the Lord, because they think they cannot run fast enough, "Draw me and I
sail run after Thee:" they are flying together, as the dowes does to the
holes of the rocks before a tempest come. In the Canticles, Christ says,
"My soul made Me as the chariots of My noble people;" and, indeed, to
see a people running through the land, to meet together to keep
communion with the Lord, this is the best chariot that can be. And this
willingness has been so great at some times in the children of God that
they have fallen in a paroxysm, or like the fit of a fever, with it: as
it is Acts xvii. Paul's spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the City
of Athens given to so much base idolatry as to worship the UNKNOWN GOD.
And Lot, also, he had such a fit as this; he vexed his righteous soul
with the iniquities of Sodom, that is, he tortured his soul with their
sins, he never saw them committing sin but it was a grief to him. And,
indeed, the children of God this while past have been grieved and vexed
to behold the sins that has been committed into this same land. I insist
upon this the rather because I would wish from my heart that ye would be
thus willing, and that ye would be as forward for the glory and honour
of God as ever any was. And then, indeed, it should do good to others
also, when they should hear tell that the people of St. Andrews were
such a willing people. And, indeed, ye have just reason to be willing
now.
1. Because it is God's cause ye have in hand, and it is no new cause to
us. It is almost sixty years old; it is no less since this same
Confession of Faith was first subscribed and sworn to. And it has been
still in use yearly to be subscribed and sworn to in some parts, among
some in this land, to this day. And I think it would have been so in all
the parts of the land if men had dreamed of what was coming upon us.
Whatever is added to it at this time, it is nothing but ane
interpretation of the former part; and if men will be willing to see the
right, they may see that there is nothing in the latter part but that
whilk may be deduced from the first. And in the making of a Covenant we
are not bound to keep only these same words that were before, but we
must renew it; and in the renewing thereof we must apply it to the
present time when it is renewed, as we have done, renewed it against the
present ills. For it is not necessar for us to abjure Turkism or
Paganism, because we are not in fear to be troubled with that; but the
thing that we are in danger of is Papistry, and therefore we must abjure
that.
2. A second reason to make you willing is, because this matter concerns
you in all things,--in your bodies, in your estates, in your lives, your
liberties, in your souls. I may say, if in the Lord's providence this
course had not been taken, ye would have found the thraldom whereinto
that course, wherein ye were anes (once) going, would have brought you
to or (ere) now, even ye who are most averse from it.
3. A third reason to make you willing is, ye have the precedency and
testimony of the nobility in the land to it, and of all sorts of
persons, noblemen, barons, gentlemen, burgesses, ministers, and commons;
and wherefore, then, should not ye be willing to follow their example?
And then, I may say, ye have the prayers of all the reformed kirks in
Europe for you, who have ever heard of the perturbations that has been,
and yet are, into this land. And, moreover, beloved, whom have ye
against you in this course? All the atheists, all the papists, and all
the profane rogues in the country; they draw to that side, and it is
only they who hate this cause. And should not all these make you willing
to swear to it, and to hazard for it? And I may say, if ye be but
willing to hazard all that ye have, that may be the heaviest distress
that ever ye shall be put to. And if so be that ye had been willing at
first, the Lord would have touched the king's heart, and made him
willing also; but because he is informed by some that the most part are
not willing, that is a great part of the cause why he is not willing.
The second property of God's people is holiness. "In the beauties of
holiness;" a speech that is borrowed from the priest's garments under
the law. Sometimes they were broidered with gold, sometimes they were
all white, especially in the day of expiation. Not that ministers under
the New Testament should have such garments as these, for these were
representations to them, both of their inward holiness and of their
outward holiness, by (beyond) others; but now all believers are priests
as well as ministers are, and therefore such garments as these are not
necessar. Indeed, if such garments as these had been necessar, then
Christ and His apostles had done great wrong to themselves, who never
used the like; and they had done great wrong to the kirk also in not
appointing such garments to be worn by ministers. There be garments of
glory in heaven, and garments of grace in the earth; that party-coloured
garment spoken of in the Colossians, and this holiness whilk is spoken
of here. Concerning whilk we will mark two things:--First, as people are
a people of willingness in a good cause, so they must also be a people
of holiness, or otherwise their willingness is only but for some worldly
respects: therefore, I would have you with willingness to put on
holiness. And, indeed, if we saw what holiness were, we needed not to be
persuaded to put it on, we would do it willingly. For it has three parts
in it--1. A purgation from former filthiness. 2. A separation from the
world. If thou will be holy, then thou must be separate from the world;
thou must strive to keep thyself from those whose garments are spotted
with the flesh. 3. Holiness requires devotion or dedication to the Lord.
When there is purgation from filthiness, separation from the world, and
dedication to the Lord, there there is holiness and nowhere else.
Now, is there any of you but ye are obleist (obliged) to be holy? Ye say
that ye are the people of the Lord. If so be, then ye must have your
inward man purged of sin, and ye must stand at the stave's end against
the corruptions of the time, and ye must devote yourselves only to serve
and honour God. And your Covenant, that ye are to swear to this day,
oblishes you to this; and it requires nothing of you but that whilk ye
are bound to perform. And, therefore, seeing this is required of you,
purge yourselves within, flee the corruptions of the time, eschew the
society of those whom ye see to be corrupt, and devote yourselves only
to the Lord. Yet this is not that we would obleish you to perform
everything punctually that the Lord requires of you; there is none who
can do that, but promise to the Lord to do so, tell Him that ye have a
desire to do so, and join a resolution and a purpose, and say to Him,
Lord, I sall prease (earnestly endeavour) to do als far as I can. And,
indeed, there is no more in our covenant but this, that we sall
endeavour to keep ourselves within the bounds of our Christian liberty;
and, albeit, none of you would swear to this, ye are bound to it by your
baptism. And, therefore, think not that we are precisians, (or these who
has set down this covenant), seeing all of you are bound to do it.
Secondly, "The _beauties_ of holiness." Consider here that as holiness
is necessar for the saints of God, so all God's courtiers they are full
of beauty. God Himself is full of beauty, and we have no power, beauty
nor holiness but in His power, beauty, and holiness. Holiness, it is the
beauty of the Son of God, Jesus Christ; and to Him it is said in Esay,
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty": and the Holy Ghost has this style
to be called Holy. And the angels in heaven, they are clothed with
holiness; and the saints who are in heaven, this is the long white
robes wherewith they are clothed. And they who are begun to be
sanctified here, they strive to be more and more clad with holiness.
Beloved, I would have you to count this to be your beauty, even
holiness; for if ye have not this beauty, then all your other beauty
will degenerate in a bastard beauty.
Now follows the marvellous _multiplication_ of thir people. "From the
womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth." The words are
somewhat obscure even to the learned ear, but look to the 133d Psalm,
and there ye will see a place to help to clear them. Always (however)
observe here, "from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy
youth," that as in a May morning, when there is no extremity of heat,
the dew falls so thick that all the fields are covered with it, and it
falls in such a secret manner that none sees it fall, so the Lord, in
the day of His power, He sall multiply His people, and He sall multiply
them in a secret manner; so that it is marvellous to the world, that
once there should seem to be so few or none of them, and then
incontinent He should make them to be through all estates.
We have first to learn here, that the Kirk of God, she has a morning;
and in the morning the dew falls, and not in the night, nor in the heat
of the day. So it is not in the night of defection, nor in the heat of
the day of persecution, when the Lord's people are multiplied, but it is
in the morning of the day. Beloved, I wish you may be a discerning
people, to know the Lord's seasons. Sall we be as those, of whom our
Saviour complains, who can discern the face of the sky, but cannot
discern the day of the Lord's merciful and gracious visitation towards
them? Men indeed may be very learned and know things very well, and yet
in the meantime be but ignorant of this; for there are sundry gifts
bestowed upon men, and ilk are has not this gift, to discern the Lord's
merciful visitation. And therefore happy are ye, albeit ye be not great
in other gifts, if so be that ye know this; for the Lord, He has some
gifts of His own bestowing allanerly (only), whilk He will bestow upon
the meanest, and yet He will deny them to the proudest; even as the tops
of the mountains, they will be dry and have no dew, while as the valleys
will be wet with it. So those who exalts themselves high, and boasts
themselves of their other gifts, of their knowledge, learning,
experience, &c., the Lord will, for all that, ofttimes leave them void
of saving and sanctifying grace.
"From the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth." That is,
as the dew is multiplied upon the earth, so sall thy people be. This is
are ordinar phrase in Scripture. Hushai says to Absalom, "Convene the
people from Dan to Beersheba, and then we sall light upon David as the
dew lighteth upon the ground; and then there sall not be left of him and
of all the men that are with him so much as one." And this phrase is
well set down, Is. liv., "Rejoice, O barren, and thou that didst not
bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not
travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the
married wife." And therefore He uses this form of speech, v. 2, "Enlarge
thy tents, and let them stretch the curtains of thy habitations;
lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." And all these things are
requisite to be done when the people of God are multiplied thus.
Let us observe here, if the Word of God continue in this land, in the
purity thereof, and the sacraments be rightly administrate, the people
of God will then multiply exceedingly here. The chiefest city in this
land, they are forced to marvel where the people has been in former
times that are in it now, so that they cannot get kirks to contain them.
And they think, if the gospel continue in the purity thereof, all the
kirks that they are building, with the rest, sall have enough ado to
contain them. And it is a marvel to consider how the Lord has
multiplied His people, at this time. This is not that we are to glory in
multitudes, but to let you see the great work of God, Who has multiplied
His people thus. And as it was at the beginning of the plantation of the
Christian religion, there was three thousand converted at one preaching
of the apostle, I will not say that there has been three thousand
converted at a preaching here, but I may say this, that at one preaching
there has been some thousands wakened up, who had not been so for a long
time before. And will it not be a hard matter, seeing that it is so,
that Saint Andrews sall be as Gideon's fleece; that all the kingdom
about it sall be wet with the dew of heaven, and it sall only be dry?
Even so, will it not be a shame, that all others sall be stirred up, and
ye not a whit stirred up in this day more than if there were not such a
thing? And, therefore, beloved, I would have you to join yourselves with
the rest of the people of God in this cause.
"Thy youth." That is, _thy young men_. Those that are renewed by grace
they are called young, albeit they were never so old, because their age
is not reckoned by their first, but by their second birth. Ay, moreover,
still the older that the children of God grow in years, and the weaker
in the world, they grow younger and stronger in grace. Secondly, they
are called young, because of the strength that they have to resist
temptations. Before they be renewed by grace and born again that way,
they are like bairns, that every temptation prevails with them; but then
they are as young men, who are able to resist temptations to sin, so
that sin gets not liberty to exercise dominion over them. Thirdly, they
are called young, because they will contend with all their power and
might for the faith. I would have all of you to be young in these
respects, and labour to get ane evidence of your new birth by these,
that ye are growing in grace, gaining still more strength to resist
temptations, and by contending earnestly for the faith; even be bold in
this, especially in contending for the truth. Strive for the truth, for,
if ye anes lose it, ye will not get it so easily again. And this same is
the covenant of truth whilk ye are to swear to; for as our Covenant is
renewed, so also it is exponed (explained) according as the exigencies
of the time requires, and it is applied to the present purpose.
Beloved, I told you already that ye have no cause of fear, for I avow
and attest here before God, that what ye do is not against authority,
but for authority, let some men who are wickedly disposed say what they
will; but what ye do is for authority. And I told you of the obligations
whereby authority are bound to this. And for the words of it, because
they are conceived in a terrible manner, ye need not to stand in awe for
this; and it were good that ye should read them over again, and think
upon this wrath of God whilk we pray for to come upon us, if we do
intend anything against authority.
_Objection._ We have oblished ourselves by our subscription already;
what then needs us to obleish ourselves over again by our oath? _Ans._
It's true, I grant, many of you has subscribed it already, and so ye are
bound; but now ye are to swear also, that so through abundance of bands
to God ye may know yourselves to be the more bound to Him. David says, I
have purposed, I have promised, I have sworn, and I sall perform Thy
righteous statutes. There be also here sundry Acts of Parliament, that
are all of them made within this same kingdom for the maintainance of
the true religion; and for thir, they speak for themselves. And I would
have these who say we do anything against law and against our superiors,
to see and try if there be anything against them, and not all directly
for them.
Beloved, I hope that it will not be necessar for us to spend mickle time
with you in removing of scruples. Good things I know has over many
objections against them from the devil, the world, and our own ill
hearts. And I know some of them who are accounted the learnedst in the
land, have assayed their wits and used their pens to object against
this. But truly these who are judicious, they have confessed that they
have been greatly confirmed by that whilk they have objected; and the
reason of it was, because they who were the most learned assayed
themselves to see what they could say, and yet when all was done, they
had nothing to say that was worth the hearing.
For the first part of this Confession of faith, there is not a word
changed in it; and if so be that men had keeped that part of it free of
sinistrous glosses, and had applied it according to the meaning of those
who were the penners thereof, there needed not to have such a thing ado
as there is now; but because they have put sinistrous glosses upon it
now and misapplied it, therefore it behoved to be explained and applied
to the present time.