God revenges the quarrel
of His own covenant, so likewise the quarrel of ours. He hath already
"Sent a sword to revenge the quarrel of His covenant." He will send
another to revenge the quarrel of this upon the wilful violators of it.
Yea, every lawful covenant hath a curse always waiting upon it, like a
marshal or a sergeant, to attack such high contemners of it. It was
noted before from the ceremony of killing, dividing, and passing between
the divided parts of a beast, when covenants were made, that the
imprecation of a curse upon the covenanters was implied, in case they
wilfully transgressed or revolted from it. Let the transgressors of, and
revolters from this covenant, fear and tremble at the same curse, even
the curse of a dreadful division: "That God will divide them and their
posterity in Jacob, and scatter them in our Israel; yea, let them fear,
that God will rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be
chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling
wind before the whirlwind. This is (their portion, and) the portion of
them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us." And if so, is not
their lot fallen in an unpleasant place? have they not a dreadful
heritage? to be under any curse is misery enough; but to be under a
covenant curse, is the greatest, is all misery. For as the blessings we
receive are most sweet, when they pass to us through the hands of a
covenant; a mercy from a promise is far better than a mercy from bare
Providence, because then it is sprinkled with the blood of Christ: so on
the other side, the curse which falls upon any one is far more bitter
when it comes through a covenant, especially an abused, a broken
covenant. When the fiery beams of God's wrath are contracted into this
burning glass, it will burn as low as hell, and none can quench it. That
alone which quenches the fire of God's wrath is the blood of Christ. And
the blood of Christ is the foundation of this covenant. Not only is
that covenant which God hath made with us founded in the blood of
Christ, but that also which we make with God. Were it not by the blood
of Christ, we could not possibly be admitted to so high a privilege.
Seeing then the blood of Christ only quenches the wrath of God, and this
blood is the foundation of our covenant, how shall the wrath of God
(except they repent, return and renew their covenant) be quenched
towards such violators of it? And, as our Saviour speaks upo