1st, You must know that a holy life is what becomes Covenanters; it is not holiness in name, show and appearance, but holiness in reality, in truth and substance, that must be interwoven with all your actions and duties; though others should not look to conscience, yet you must; though others slight and neglect religion, you must by no means do it; you must put on a Joshua's generous and holy resolution, "That whatever others do, you and your house will serve the Lord." You must consider upon it, that well-set speeches concerning the covenant, is not what you are principally to study, but well-set hearts; you must shake off laziness as well as hypocrisy.
2d. You must be very regular in your walk; an uniform conversation in the way of holiness is that which greatly adorns a Christian, and consequently, a Covenanter. And if you endeavor such a regular course of life, you will not shape yourselves according to the company you fall into. As some have a religion for every company, so they have one for man and another for God, and will be more careful and afraid lest their hypocrisy be discovered by men, than they are afraid to be made manifest to the Lord. But so it must not be with you who have renewed your covenant with the Lord: you must be the same in the closet as in the public assembly, and have a greater regard to the eye of Jehovah, and the answer of a good conscience, than the approbation of fellow creatures.
3d, You mast be careful to perform all things which you have engaged to, within your sphere and station, but must not go without it: God is a God of order, and as he hath placed the stars in their proper orbs for the order and ornament of the universe, so hath he assigned to Christians their diverse stations, for the beauty, order, and union of the Church; Christ, the Captain of salvation, hath marshalled his soldiers into rank and file, and it were a disordering of his army if any should break their ranks.
4th, You must slight no opportunity of pursuing the ends of your covenant; whatever it may cost you when the occasion offers, suffering must not deter you from it; and if the times be such now as spare both your persons and purses, yet you must not be sparing in your prayers for the reviving of the work of God in the land, which is the very end of covenanting.
5th, You must be careful that you do not forget the covenant; forgetting (as you heard before) is a step towards forsaking, and, therefore, you must endeavour to have the covenant nearer to you than the Israelites had it—they had it written upon the posts of their doors, you must have it written upon the tables of your hearts.
6th, You must evidence a great deal of cheerfulness and patience under your crosses, which may occur to you for your adherence to this your covenant; you must neither weaken your own hands in the discharge of covenanted duties, by drooping and discouragement under these crosses, nor stumble others, by repining at these losses, or by any carriage and deportment under them that may import your repenting of what you have now done. And because you are impotent and weak in yourselves, therefore,
7th, You must see that faith be in exercise in all your performances of covenanted duties. If this be wanting you will perform nothing to purpose, "for without faith it is impossible to please God." By this grace you must keep up acquaintance with Christ, and have frequent recourse to him, both for cleansing you from your defilements, when you break the covenant, and for strength to perform what you are obliged to by covenant; both for recovering grace, to raise you up when fallen, and for preventing grace, to preserve you from falling or relapsing again.
8th, That you may be the more active and vigilant in keeping covenant, you must labor to maintain a constant fear of breaking it, and have a fixed impression of the tremendous threatening denounced against covenant-breakers; and you must know that all are such in God's account, who satisfy themselves with the form of godliness, denying the power thereof. For this end read and ponder these and the like scriptures.
Lev. xxvi. 25, "And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant, and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you: and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy." Neh. v. 13—"So God shall shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied." Jer. xi. 3, "Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth from the iron furnace." Ezek. xvii. 15, "Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doth such things? or shall he break the covenant and be delivered?" Verse 18, "Seeing he hath despised the oath, by breaking the covenant, when lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape." Verse 19th, "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, as I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head."
The minister having given these exhortations, closed the day's work with prayer, and singing a part of the ciii. Psalm from the 17th to the 19th verse. And having intimated the time of meeting for more immediate preparation for the holy communion, putting the people in mind to be preparing for the work, by fervent prayer and supplication, joined with serious and upright self-examination, he dismissed the congregation after the usual form.