Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

ment,"
age."
quiet"
oath."
present."
pleased."
But they do deserve our respect, our commemora
tion, and our imitation. That's the whole reason
for thinking of the "History of Covenanting" now.
They say to us, "Be ye followers of us as we also
are of Christ."
And once again, the covenants had helped win
the battle with
Satan, because no human sword
could "cut" what God had bound together within
that severed sacrifice.
When Satan saw that he could not defeat such
men as these by the sword, he turned to subtile
temptation. First came the indulgences. The king
promised relief for all who would take a modified
oath or just "keep on certain issues. The
ranks were split by indulgences.
Second, the king offered a "Revolution Settle
and the covenants were largely ignored be
cause everyone was tired of fighting and afraid
to mention the subject. The King then granted the
church permission to exist.
The "remnants" which refused to approve of
this settlement were without a pastor for 16 years.
Then the Rev. John McMillan joined the remnant
in 1706 because he believed in the covenants. Our
church was formed in 1743 and McMillan later wrote
of the name, "REFORMED PRESBYTERY," it is
"a title properly expressive of their principles and
ground of constitution, namely, a presbytery, the
first since the revolution, properly erected upon the
footing of an approbation of, and an adherence to
the whole of our covenanting reformation . . .a
presbytery constituted in an immediate dependence
upon the Lord Jesus Christ Our "Reformed
Presbytery"
Church was founded upon the principles
of the Covenanted Reformation, in opposition to all
the trials of these times of temptation. The Cove
nants brought us our first pastor.
THE TIMES OF RENEWAL
For obvious reasons, the times of renewal must
be remembered today. History
points with pride
and advice to her many valuable covenant renewals.
Most of these came after the Revolution set
tlement but one, the National Covenant was renew
ed in 1596. Christianity had not been flourishing,
churches were empty, people had heart trouble,
ministers were lazy. The renewal of the covenant
was requested, and approved, and an eyewitness has
described the scene:
"On this solemn occasion, Davidson preached
so much to the conviction of his hearers, and in their
name offered up a confession of their sins to heaven
with such fervent emotions that the whole assem
bled ministers melted into tears; and rising from
their seats at his desire, and lifting up their right
hands, they renewed their covenants with God. . .
The scene continued three hours, was deeply af
fected beyond anything that the oldest person pre
sent had ever witnessed. The sacred action extended
to congregations and the ordinance was obeyed
with an alacrity and fervor which spread from
parish to parish till all Scotland like Judah of old,
"rejoiced at the Andrew Melville said after
this experience, "(Renewal) is a highly spiritual
symbol, and calculated to prove highly stimulating
to a luke warm witness-bearer or a drooping church
in any
In 1745, the Secession Church renewed the
March 16, 1955
covenants beginning with a confession of sin which
was made up on the spot, with personal and heartsearching
contributions from every man. Again it
was followed by a committment to duty and pass
ed down to presbyteries and congregations. And
again the whole of Scotland felt the impact of the
revival. From that year onward, the Secession
Church required all her seminary students to be
personal covenanters from the first year of their
study.
Prof. Duncan, Scotland's outstanding Hebrew
Scholar, said, "It secured a higher level in the per
formance of ministerial duty than would have been
possible without it." Professor Watt said: "It was
their solemn dedication and the preparation for it,
that seems to have been a land mark in many useful
lives. Without a shadow of doubt this was one of
piety."
the main instruments in promoting Secession
Even in the corrupt State Church of 1766, a
few tried it and of this effort, a present day histor
ian said: "It may therefore be concluded that it did
serve its primary purpose of keeping alive the
evangelical cause within the Church of Scotland."
A professor at the University of Edinburgh
spoke recently of meeting people in Scotland yet
today who "assign a conspicuous place in their own
spiritual development to ... a renewal of the cove
nants. It involved a soul-stirring and life-renovating
upturn in their actual
But it is in the record of the covenant renewal
in our own church, that we find a sharp warning.
All the covenants were renewed by the faith
ful remnant in 1689 just before the Revolution
Settlement. They were renewed again in 1712 near
Auchensaugh, and again in 1745 by the newly form
ed "RE-FORMED PRESBYTERY," our church in
Scotland. Professor Watt has termed this renewal,
"something that can legitimately be called a 're
newal of the Covenants'," to distinguish it from
other bonds of adherence to a covenant.
The Auchensaugh renewal was included in the
terms of membership and communion but around
1800 a few people began to complain. In 1818, ses
sions were left free to read or to omit the clause
concerning renewal, "as they
In 1822
(only 4 years later) the clause was deleted.
From 1822 onward, frequent letters and dele
gations from Ireland and America urged a joint
covenant. The movement failed in Scotland while
succeeding in other countries. Our Church in Scot
land never again renewed the covenants.
In 1872, under heavy pressure from a union
committee, all reference to covenanting was remov
ed from licensure and ordination formulas and in
1873 another church magazine said with some irony:
"It is not altogether unnoticeable here that the Re
formed Presbyterian Synod's Committee on union,
though representatives of those who so long claim
ed to be Covenanters par excellence, has entirely
ignored the Covenants and the doctrine of Cove
nant Obligation, in the statement of principles given
into the Joint Committee" on church union.
It was only about twenty years from the time
they refused to exercise the privilege of covenant
approved its removal as a
renewal till the majority
term of communion.
The Union of a majority of the members of our
Scottish church took place three years later and
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