Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

world,"
religion."
out."
energy."
Those "Out-of-bounders"
We Covenanters have an expression which the un
initiated"
may misunderstand. It is that of our "outof-bounds"
men."
cause,"
forward, and establish the most blessed word of
God."
Five covenants were written and signed by
growing numbers always in the name and for the
whole glory of Christ. They stirred up the Pope's
men and he sought to "break
asunder"
these "bands"
which bound man to God. But the people met his ef
forts by coming together in a special national con
tract soliciting God's help and promising them
selves ! They banded together not just to save their
own lives, but to overcome this threat to their souls,
to save their Bibles for they had found Christ at
the center of that Word and desired to live to know
and to glorify Him more.
That first nationwide covenant was signed in
1581. McCrie, Scotland's greatest Reformation his
torian said, "This solemn transaction had a powerful
influence in rivetting the attachment of the nation
to the Protestant
The Roman Catholics were beaten soundly and
the whole reformation was saved, by a nation united
as she never had been before, miraculously united by
means of a Covenant. It was a glorious victory for
King Jesus, and strike one for Satan.
But Satan would not rest in defeat. He came
back next in the form of their trusted leader, the
"king. It wasn't a question of which liturgy was better
{the one the king ordered, or the one the church had
made), but it was a question of who had the author
ity to give it; "God and conscience of the Kirk," or
"King by divine right" Who was right Jenny Ged
des answered for them. When the Bishop rose to
read the King a liturgy, she threw her three-legged
stool at him, and like "the shot heard round the
all Scotland rallied to write a new covenant.
The NATIONAL COVENANT of 1638 included
everything that was in the first covenant, denounc
ing the pope and Catholicism, and it added a new sec
tion, denouncing the king and proclaiming to the
world, Christ's Headship over the Church ; that what
He commanded they would do, what He did not com
mand they would not do, in order to glorify Him.
Neither Papal sceptre nor regal crown would rule the
church, but Jesus Christ alone. When Archbishop
Spittiswoodie, the king's henchman, first heard of
the covenant, he exclaimed in dismay,
"We have been
making tub these fourty years, and now the bottom
thereof is fallen The King's plans for the con
trol of the country through the church had failed.
An eye witness said, the spirit of that covenant
"spread far and wide over the land ... it summoned
un-exam-
the sons of hill and dale . . .
subduing with
pled power, the hereditary feuds of hostile clans, and
combining the nation into one mighty
calculable
phalanx of in
Again the victory was complete. The King's
armies retreated without a battle, he himself signed
the covenant and presbyterianism was firmly es
tablished in what has been called Scotland's "purest"
times 1638 to 1642. It was a second remarkable
victory for KING JESUS, and again Satan was
routed by a Covenant. It was strike two for Satan.
But Satan came again! The English and Irish
were having trouble with the same high-handed,
dictatorial king, and they asked the happy Scotsmen
for help. Thev agreed, on one condition; help would
be on the basis of a covenant. The SOLEMN
LEAGUE AND COVENANT was signed in 1642.
The honorable Robert Baillie described the scene;
150
"It was received with the greatest applause that ever
I saw anything, with so hearty affections, expressed
in tears of pity and joy by very many grave, wise,
and old
Hay Flemming, a very cautious 20th century
historian said, ". . . it produced marvelous unanimity
. . Another said, "The fervour and unanimity of
those days of signing astonished even the most op
timistic. Scotland was swept by a movement unparal
leled in its force."
The aid was given England and Ireland, a mili
tary victory was won, but then, unfortunately, little
if any interest was shown in Reform. Satan's third
attempt had been to discredit the principle of cove
nanting and while to the Scottish poet, Robert Burns,
it "sealed freedom's noble John Milton, the
English poet complained that it was used "to force
our consciences that Christ set free." And to this day
covenants are condemned because they "failed" in
England and Ireland. Professor Watt solves the enig
ma with a terse comment, "Even the BEST devised
handled."
instruments can be wrongly And it is true
that the conscience not already owned by Christ will
find itself unbearably pressed by a covenant.
If those three major covenants marked the writ
ing times, commemorating major victories by cove
nant for Jesus Christ and strikes against Satan, then
the years from 1643 to 1690 mark the proving times.
(To be Continued)
Tither's Corner
D. H. Elliott
members. We occasionally do hear of
folks who have gotten out of bounds. But no sinister
meaning is attached to the phrase as we use it. What
we mean is, members who are non-resident or too far
away geographically to attend their own church.
Wouldn't the term "non-resident" serve our purpose
better
The number of such members probably reaches
into the hundreds. We hope that all of you non-residenters
will join us in our tithing venture. We are
counting on your home congregation to see that the
tithing booklet and enrollment card reaches you
without delay. Then we trust that you will respond
by joining the roll of tithers in your home church.
Here Is One Eloquent Example
A recent bulletin of our Belle Center, Ohio, con
gregation, which arrived by way of Kansas, con
tained the following extract from a letter of a non
resident member:
"I hope we make it possible to send another
worker to Japan. I sent $200 to Mr. Fox in Decem
ber. That was above my tithe. I'll send more before
the church year ends. If folks would just try giving
generously they would find no lack. That has been
my experience. In fact my salary seems to go farther
than that of my fellow-workers who feel they cannot
afford to pay to the church."
P. S. Have you tithe-boosters sent "Ten Times
Tew"and the enrollment card to all of your members
away from home They will be looking for them.
COVENANTER WITNESS