Kings of the time, swore their allegiance to the National Covenant and also the SL&C. (In some cases twice over!) yet to do so was for no more than to suit their own purposes. It was for their gain, and nothing to do with honouring God above man or honouring God, period.
Sometimes, the Reformed community can get a bad press, for how relentless we can be in defending the truth. By relentless I don't mean mean, or malicous, but certainly non-compromising. And yet, isn't that what God calls any of us to do? I sometimes take a pop at the popish papal pope on my blog. For the reason alone of the papacy being the seat of the anti-christ. The great usurper. And if I see truth compromised in a certain way, it will set my belly on fire, and I too will fit the label of "relentless" in a passion to put right the wrong done to God's honour.
I think there are lessons from the National Covenant, for those of the faithful, to learn from. There is obviously a right time to speak and right time to not on almost all occassions. However, sometimes, you just have to stand up and be counted. I recently watched a movie/documentary called "Scottish Covenanters" and Richard Cameron was described as an "extremist." and James Renwick (his successor) was described as a "zealot." Yet without these extremist zealot bents would either man have been equipped for the job to which he was called? And for which both eventually died for? Below are some excerpts from The National Covenant, with a few sundry comments of my own interspersed between paragraphs:
THE
NATIONAL COVENANT;
OR,
THE CONFESSION OF FAITH
Subscribed at first by the King's Majesty, and his Household, in the year 1580; thereafter by persons of all ranks in the year 1581, by ordinance of the Lords of secret council, and acts of the General Assembly; subscribed again by all sorts of persons in the year 1590, by a new ordinance of council, at the desire of the General Assembly: with a general bond for the maintaining of the true Christian religion, and the King's person; and, together with a resolution and promise, for the causes after expressed, to maintain the true religion, and the King's Majesty, according to the foresaid Confession and acts of Parliament, subscribed by Barons, Nobles, Gentlemen, Burgesses, Ministers, and Commons, in the year 1638: approven by the General Assembly 1638 and 1639; and subscribed again by persons of all ranks and qualities in the year 1639, by an ordinance of council, upon the supplication of the General Assembly, and act of the General Assembly, ratified by an act of Parliament 1640: and subscribed by King Charles II. at Spey, June 23, 1650, and Scoon, January 1. 1651.
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WE all and every one of us under-written, protest, That, after long and due examination of our own consciences in matters of true and false religion, we are now thoroughly resolved in the truth by the word and Spirit of God: and therefore we believe with our hearts, confess with our mouths, subscribe with our hands, and constantly affirm, before God and the whole world, that this only is the true Christian faith and religion, pleasing God, and bringing salvation to man, which now is, by the mercy of God, revealed to the world by the preaching of the blessed evangel; and is received, believed, and defended by many and sundry notable kirks and realms, but chiefly by the kirk of Scotland, the King's Majesty, and three estates of this realm, as God's eternal truth, and only ground of our salvation; as more particularly is expressed in the Confession of our Faith, established and publickly confirmed by sundry acts of Parliaments, and now of a long time hath been openly professed by the King's Majesty, and whole body of this realm both in burgh and land. To the which Confession and Form of Religion we willingly agree in our conscience in all points, as unto God's undoubted truth and verity, grounded only upon his written word. And therefore we abhor and detest all contrary religion and doctrine; but chiefly all kind of Papistry in general and particular heads, even as they are now damned and confuted by the word of God and Kirk of Scotland. But, in special, we detest and refuse the usurped authority of that Roman Antichrist upon the scriptures of God, upon the kirk, the civil magistrate, and consciences of men; all his tyrannous laws made upon indifferent things against our Christian liberty; his erroneous doctrine against the sufficiency of the written word, the perfection of the law, the office of Christ, and his blessed evangel; his corrupted doctrine concerning original sin, our natural inability and rebellion to God's law, our justification by faith only, our imperfect sanctification and obedience to the law; the nature, number, and use of the holy sacraments; his five bastard sacraments, with all his rites, ceremonies, and false doctrine, added to the ministration of the true sacraments without the word of God; his cruel judgment against infants departing without the sacrament; his absolute necessity of baptism; his blasphemous opinion of transubstantiation, or real presence of Christ's body in the elements, and receiving of the same by the wicked, or bodies of men; his dispensations with solemn oaths, perjuries, and degrees of marriage forbidden in the word; his cruelty against the innocent divorced; his devilish mass; his blasphemous priesthood; his profane sacrifice for sins of the dead and the quick; his canonization of men; calling upon angels or saints departed, worshipping of imagery, relicks, and crosses; dedicating of kirks, altars, days; vows to creatures; his purgatory, prayers for the dead; praying or speaking in a strange language, with his processions, and blasphemous litany, and multitude of advocates or mediators; his manifold orders, auricular confession; his desperate and uncertain repentance; his general and doubtsome faith; his satisfaction of men for their sins; his justification by works, opus operatum, works of supererogation, merits, pardons, peregrinations, and stations; his holy water, baptizing of bells, conjuring of spirits, crossing, sayning, anointing, conjuring, hallowing of God's good creatures, with the superstitious opinion joined therewith; his worldly monarchy, and wicked hierarchy; his three solemn vows, with all his shavelings of sundry sorts; his erroneous and bloody decrees made at Trent, with all the subscribers or approvers of that cruel and bloody band, conjured against the kirk of God.And finally, we detest all his vain allegories, rites, signs, and traditions brought in the kirk, without or against the word of God, and doctrine of this true reformed kirk; to the which we join ourselves willingly, in doctrine, faith, religion, discipline, and use of the holy sacraments, as lively members of the same in Christ our head: promising and swearing, by the great name of the LORD our GOD, that we shall continue in the obedience of the doctrine and discipline of this kirk [The Confession which was subscribed at Halyrud-house the 25th of February 1587-8, by the King, Lennox Huntly, the Chancellor, and about 95 other persons, hath here added, "Agreeing to the word." Sir John Maxwell of Pollock hath the original parchment.], and shall defend the same, according to our vocation and power, all the days of our lives; under the pains contained in the law, and danger both of body and soul in the day of God's fearful judgment.
And seeing that many are stirred up by Satan, and that Roman Antichrist, to promise, swear, subscribe, and for a time use the holy sacraments in the kirk deceitfully, against their own conscience; minding hereby,first, under the external cloak of religion, to corrupt and subvert secretly God's true religion within the kirk; and afterward, when time may serve, to become open enemies and persecutors of the same, under vain hope of the Pope's dispensation, devised against the word of God, to his greater confusion, and their double condemnation in the day of the Lord Jesus: we therefore, willing to take away all suspicion of hypocrisy, and of such double dealing with God, and his kirk, protest, and call the Searcher of all hearts for witness, that our minds and hearts do fully agree with this our Confession, promise, oath, and subscription: so that we are not moved with any worldly respect, but are persuaded only in our conscience, through the knowledge and love of God's true religion imprinted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as we shall answer to him in the day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed.
And because we perceive, that the quietness and stability of our religion and kirk doth depend upon the safety and good behaviour of the King's Majesty, as upon a comfortable instrument of God's mercy granted to this country, for the maintaining of his kirk, and ministration of justice amongst us; we protest and promise with our hearts, under the same oath, hand-writ, and pains, that we shall defend his person and authority with our goods, bodies, and lives, in the defence of Christ, his evangel, liberties of our country, ministration of justice, and punishment of iniquity, against all enemies within this realm or without, as we desire our God to be a strong and merciful defender to us in the day of our death, and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory eternally. Amen.
If ever there was a reason to be against papistry, the above when one measures the above in light of Scripture and what Scripture teaches about both the seat of the anti-Christ and also Romish practices and ceremonies, (extra Biblical) can only make one against the papacy and all it stands for. Of course it doesn't just include papistry, but against any religion where God is dishnoured, and heresy is present.
do condemn the monuments and dregs of bygone idolatry, as going to crosses, observing the festival days of saints, and such other superstitious and Papistical rites, to the dishonour of God, contempt of true religion, and fostering of great error among the people; and ordains the users of them to be punished for the second fault, as idolaters, Act 104, Parl.7, King James VI.
This is one reason I am often so out-spoken about the observance of so called "holy days." As men fought and died for the Christian liberty we now have to not be subject to man's will upon us, but only the will of God. Being bound to "holy days" is only being subject to the will of man, and not God. And I object-LOUDLY- when it cost those of that era so much, in life and limb, to fight for the right we now have to choose in our Christian liberty. To put ourselves in bondage by choice, is an affront on many levels.
And the subsequent Act 69, Parl. 6 of King James VI. declares, that there is no other face of kirk, nor other face of religion, than was presently at that time, by the favour of God, established within this realm: "Which therefore is ever styled God's true religion, Christ's true religion, the true and Christian religion, and a perfect religion;" which, by manifold Acts of Parliament, all within this realm are bound to profess, to subscribe the articles thereof, the Confession of Faith, to recant all doctrine and errors repugnant to any of the said articles, Act 4 and 9, Parl. 1; Acts 45,46,47, Parl. 3; Act 71, Parl. 6; Act 106, Parl. 7; Act 24, Parl. 11; Act 123, Parl. 12; Act 194 and 197, Parl. 14 of King James VI. And all magistrates, sheriffs, &c. on the one part, are ordained to search, apprehend, and punish all contraveners: For instance, Act 5, Parl. 1; Act 104, Parl. 7; Act 25, Parl. 11, King James VI.; and that notwithstanding of the King's Majesty's licences on the contrary, which are discharged, and declared to be of no force, in so far as they tend in any wise to the prejudice and hinder of the execution of the Acts of Parliament against Papists and adversaries of true religion, Act 106, Parl. 7, King James VI. On the other part, in the 47th Act, Parl. 3, King James VI. it is declared and ordained, Seeing the cause of God's true religion and his Highness's authority are so joined, as the hurt of the one is common to both; that none shall be reputed as loyal and faithful subjects to our sovereign Lord, or his authority, but be punishable as rebellers and gainstanders of the same, who shall not give their confession, and make their profession of the said true religion: and that they who, after defection, shall give the confession of their faith of new, they shall promise to continue therein in time coming, to maintain our sovereign Lord's authority, and at the uttermost of their power to fortify, assist, and maintain the true preachers and professors of Christ's religion, against whatsoever enemies and gainstanders of the same; and namely, against all such, of whatsoever nation, estate, or degree they be of, that have joined or bound themselves, or have assisted, or assist, to set forward and execute the cruel decrees of the council of Trent, contrary to the true preachers and professors of the word of God; which is repeated, word by word, in the articles of pacification at Perth, the 23d of February 1572, approved by Parliament the last of April 1573, ratified in Parliament 1587, and related Act 123, Parl. 12 of King James VI.; with this addition, "That they are bound to resist all treasonable uproars and hostilities raised against the true religion, the King's Majesty, and the true professors.
You see these men, and women were more than professors. They put their money where their mouth was and did not compromise for the truth for the sake of some trivial temporal blessing or yet still any greater temporal blessing. Of course there were those of the time of weaker faith, less graces, and so forth who did compromise, and sided with the Royalists, but they SHOULDN'T have. Yet in those times of persecution, will anyone really say they can blame them? Or that they know for sure if it were them in such perilous times they would do any different? But we are NOT in such perilous times any more. To compromise on any level, big or small on matters such as some of these, is abominable, and if it comes from within the Reformed Community, a smear and slur on these martyrs memories. Who set Christ as their King, before any man, woman, child, and enduring bodily torture that tore and crushed their bodies in little bits they still would not and did not recant or waver from the truth. After such torturous experiences when weakened beyond bounds, they then further went to the scaffold, (or some other mode of execution) and were still upholding truth and glorifying Christ, with their final breath. Many a martyr sang in the fire as the flames engulfed him. All of them were heard to utter, "Lord, I commend my spirit" as the last words their lips uttered. I take offense at such carelessness in this day and age, because I believe the martyrs/puritans/covenanters are the only people I have any connection with, (by reading them) who would understand the struggle my life and a life of faith entails every single day in the degree of suffering I have. So, yes, I take offense on their behalf when their graves are spat upon, when the easy option, or the compromise is taken instead of truth. What was the Reformation about EXCEPT truth? If any calling themselves Reformed Christians in todays safe comfort zone, will take an easy option or compromise, when the word REformed comes from the REformation and such suffering times, do you really have any right to lay hold to the title Reformed? So, yes my blood boils at times, and I get a fire in my belly that won't go out until truth has been heard and both God's honour and the taint upon the men and women who died for their faith has tried to be erased or cleansed. Maybe I am an extremist, or a zealot in some ways over some things, but maybe like Richard Cameron or James Fenwick, its because I know the reality of suffering beyond most humans understanding in the usual run or life and circumstances, into the bounds of what Calvin termed "extraordinary suffering," in which he meant it is not usual for most of man-kind and outside of most normal human experience. Maybe that's why when compromise at such a small price to pay for not compromising and defending God's honour, is why when God is dishonoured by such compromise and the graves of the martyrs spat upon at the same time, it will always be stepping on my blue suede shoes of faith. And the fire will get lit, that will take some putting out, until the balance has been redressed.
In this post I am setting a few things straight. The facts of which can easily be varified by various historical sources.
