BY EDMOND CALAMY.[14]
"Truce-breakers (or covenant-breakers)."—2 Tim. iii. 3.
In the beginning of the chapter, the apostle tells us the condition that the church of God should be in, in the last days. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." In the second verse, he tells us the reason why these times should be such hard and dangerous times; "for men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous," &c. The reason is not drawn from the miseries and calamities of the last times, but from the sins and iniquities of the last times. It is sin and iniquity that make times truly perilous. Sin, and sin only, takes away God's love and favour from a nation, and makes God turn an enemy to it. Sin causeth God to take away the purity and power of His ordinances from a nation. Sin makes all the creatures to be armed against us, and makes our own consciences to fight against us. Sin is the cause of all the causes of perilous times. Sin is the cause of our civil wars. Sin is the cause of our divisions. Sin is the cause why men fall into such dangerous errors. Sin brings such kinds of judgments, which no other thing can bring. Sin brings invisible, spiritual, and eternal judgments. It is sin that makes God give over a nation to a reprobate sense. Sin makes all times dangerous. Let the times be never so prosperous, yet if they be sinful times, they are times truly dangerous. And if they be not sinful, they are not dangerous, though never so miserable. It is sin that makes afflictions to be the fruits of God's avenging wrath, part of the curse due to sin, and a beginning of hell. It is sin, and sin only, that embitters every affliction. Let us for ever look upon sin through these scripture spectacles.
The apostle, in four verses, reckons up nineteen sins, as the causes of the miseries of the last days. I may truly call these nineteen sins, England's looking-glass, wherein we may see what are the clouds that eclipse God's countenance from shining upon us; the mountains that lie in the way to hinder the settlement of church-discipline: even these nineteen sins, which are as an iron-whip of nineteen strings, with which God is whipping England at this day; which are as nineteen faggots, with which God is burning and devouring England. My purpose is not to speak of all these sins; only let me propound a divine project, how to make the times happy for soul and body. And that is to strike at the root of all misery, which is sin and iniquity: to repent for and from all these nineteen sins, which are as the oil that feeds and increases the flame that is now consuming of us. For, because men are lovers of themselves, usque ad contemptum Dei et republicæ; because men drive their own designs, not only to the neglect, but contempt of God and the commonwealth. Because men are covetous, lovers of the world, more than lovers of God. Because they are proud in head, heart, looks and apparel. Because they are unthankful, turning the mercies of God into instruments of sin, and making darts with God's blessings to shoot against God. Because men are unholy and heady, and make many covenants, and keep none. Because they are (as the Greek word diaboloi signifieth) devils, acting the devil's part, in accusing the brethren, and in bearing false witness one against another. Because they have a "form of godliness, denying the power thereof." Hence it is that these times are so sad and bloody. These are thy enemies, O England, that have brought thee into this desolate condition! If ever God lead us back into the wilderness, it will be because of these sins. And therefore, if ever ye would have blessed days, you must make it your great business to remove these nineteen mountains, and repent of these land-devouring and soul-destroying abominations.
At this time, I shall pick out the first and tenth sin to speak on. The first is, Self-love; which is placed in the forefront, as the cause of all the rest. Self-love is not only a sin that makes the times perilous, but it is the cause of all these sins that make the times perilous; for, because men are lovers of themselves, therefore they are covetous, proud, unholy. The tenth sin is, Truce-breakers, and, for fear lest the time should prevent me, I shall begin with this sin first.
The tenth sin then is truce-breakers; or, as Rom. i. 31., "Covenant-breakers." The Greek word is aspondoi, which signifieth three things; First, Such as are fœderis nescii, as Beza renders it; or, as others, infœderabilis; that is, such as refuse to enter into covenant. Or, Secondly, Such as are fœdifragi, qui pacta non servant, as Estius hath it, or sine fide, as Ambrose; that is, such as break faith and covenant. Or, Thirdly, Such as are implacabilis; or, as others, sine pace; that is, such as are implacable, and haters of peace. According to this threefold sense of the word, I shall gather these three observations.
Doctrine 1. That to be a covenant-refuser is a sin that makes the times perilous.
Doct. 2. That to be a covenant-breaker is a sin that makes the times perilous.
Doct. 3. That to be a peace-hater, or a truce-hater, is a sin that makes the times perilous.
Doct. 4. That to be a covenant refuser is a sin that makes the times perilous; to be fœderis nescius, or infœderabilis. For the understanding of this, you must know that there are two sorts of covenants, there are devilish and hellish covenants, and there are godly and religious covenants. First, There are devilish covenants, such as Acts xxiii. 12, and Isa. xxviii. 15, such as the holy league, as it was unjustly called in France, against the Huguenots, and that of our gun-powder traitors in England. Now, to refuse to make such covenants is not to make the times perilous, but the taking of them makes the times perilous. Secondly, There are godly covenants, as Psal. cxix. 106, and as 2 Chron. xv. 14: and such as this is which you are met to take this day. For you are to swear to such things which you are bound to endeavour after, though you did not swear. Your swearing is not solum vinculum, but novum vinculum, is not the only, but only a new and another bond to tie you to the obedience of the things you swear unto; which are so excellent and so glorious, that if God gave those that take it a heart to keep it, it will make these three kingdoms the glory of the world. And as one of the reverend commissioners of Scotland said, when it was first taken in a most solemn manner at Westminster, by the parliament and the assembly, "That if the pope should have this covenant written upon a wall over against him sitting in his chair, it would be unto him like the hand-writing to Belshazzar, causing his joints to loose, and his knees to smite one against another." And I may add, that if it be faithfully and fully kept, it will make all the devils in hell to tremble, as fearing lest their kingdom should not stand long. Now then, for a man to be an anti-covenanter, and to be such a covenant-refuser, it must needs be a sin that makes the times perilous.