Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

ever!"
obedient."
confess,"
The Challenge of Covenanting
Rev. Willard McMillan
(Saturday night address at the Grinnell Conference)
In his farewell speech to the Israelites Moses
reminded the people of the covenant which they
had entered into with God at Mt. Sinai. He repeated
again in their hearing the ten commandments which
constituted their covenant obligations. He reminded
them of their solemn promise, "All that the Lord
hath spoken will we do, and be And then
Moses said that after they had made that promise
God had said to him,
"I have heard the voice of the words of this
people, which they have spoken unto thee ; they have
well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there
were such an heart in them, that they would fear
Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it
might be well with them, and with their children
for
God's desire for His people Israel, upon hearing
their covenant promises, was that there were such
an heart in them that they would keep the covenant
and receive the blessings promised. That is God's
desire for all His people. "O that there were such
an heart in them!"
In order for a covenant with God to be of any
value those taking it must have a right attitude of
heart. Therefore, the challenge which confronts us
on this eve of covenant renewal is to prepare our
hearts.
The Challenge To Prepare Our Hearts
Man looks on the outward appearance, but God
looks on the heart. It is the heart of a man in which
God is interested. For man's Creator knows that if
a man's heart is right, the whole man is right. "Keep
thy heart with all diligence," commands God, "for
out of it are the issues of life."
When Sir Walter Raleigh was asked by his
executioner if his head were lying right on the block,
Raleigh replied, "It matters little, my friend, how
!"
the head lies, provided the heart is right
A Christian stranger coming into our midst,
and reading our Brief Covenant would be impressed
that we as a Church make a noble profession of
faith, and bind ourselves to some very commendable
obligations. But as God is in our midst, He does not
simply read the words of the Covenant, He reads
our hearts.
What does God see in our hearts tonight The
value of our covenant depends upon that.
Ezra was one of the great leaders in the restora
tion of Israel following her captivity. We are told
that "the good hand of the Lord his God was upon
him"
and the reason why "For Ezra had perpared
it."
his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do
In drawing up our covenant we have sought the law
of the Lord. In taking the covenant we pledge our
selves to do it. But before this we, like Ezra, must
prepare our hearts. And if we do that we can be
sure that "the good hand of his God" will be upon us.
There is one element especially which is abso
lutely essential in preparation for covenanting with
God. That is REPENTANCE.
On October 6, 1648, approximately five years
March 23, 1955
after the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant
by the people of Scotland, the Commission of the
Church of Scotland passed an Act which called upon
the Church to renew the Covenant. To be used in
that connection the Commission drew up a "Solemn
Acknowledgment of Public Sins and Breaches of
the Covenant," and specified that this confession of
sin was to be read in the Churches on a day of
solemn public humiliation and fasting before the
covenant was renewed. Covenant renewal should al
ways involve confession and repentance of sin.
Samuel Rutherford was one of the famous Scot
tish preachers of this covenanting period. One of
Rutherford's heart-searching sermons which has
been preserved to our day was on "The Deliverance
of the Kirk (the Church) of God." It was based on
that passage in Jeremiah which pictures the chil
dren of Judah and Israel going together, weeping,
to seek the Lord, and saying one to another, "Come,
and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual
covenant that shall not be forgotten." In that ser
mon the great Scottish preacher points out,
"They go weeping to seek the Lord . . . and truly
a work of reformation it requires weeping And
. . .
it looks more like a judgment, that so few are drawn
to repentance by this work of reformation, for the
former breach of our covenant, and our turning away
from the Lord."
Rutherford brings that sermon to a close with
the cry, "Oh, that we had hearts and eyes to seek
!"
Him, and to look after Him
It was in a spirit of repentance that the Fathers
of our Church in America drew up that Covenant
by which we are bound the Covenant of 1871. One
of the most eloquent and inclusive confessions of
sin that I have read begins that Covenant. I have
been impressed that every element of that confes
sion is applicable to our Church of today. Four of
its paragraphs begin with these expressions :
"We do humbly and sincerely confess and lament ....
We acknowledge with shame
We mourn ....
We humble ourselves
And, as it draws to a close, we come to this heart
rending cry of Daniel, "Righteousness belongeth un
to God, and shame and confession of face unto us,
as appears this day !"
Realizing the need for repentance our Church
has included in the Brief Covenant a "Confession of
Sin."
Notice what that confession says.
"We humbly it begins. Our confes
sion is made in a spirit of humility. How could it be
anything else when we realize that our covenant is
with the infinite, eternal, unchangeable God! It is
when men come face to face with God that they
realize the stuff of which they are made ; that they
realize that they are sinful creatures, undeserving of
which God bestows.
the grace and mercy
If we are not humbled in entering into this cove-
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