word-procuring and soul-undoing
sin, this sin of covenant-breaking is; and then the reason of it. Famous
is that text, "And I will send My sword, which shall avenge the quarrel
of My covenant." The words in the Hebrew run thus, "I will avenge the
avengement," which importeth this much, that God is at open war and at
public defiance with those that break His covenant: He is not only angry
with them, but He will be revenged of them. "The Lord hath a controversy
with all covenant-breakers." "The Lord will walk contrary to them."
First, God takes His people into covenant, and then He tells them of the
happy condition they should be in, if they did keep the covenant; but if
they did break covenant, He tells them, "that the Lord will not spare
him; but the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that
man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon
him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven, and the
Lord shall separate him. And when the nation shall say, Wherefore hath
the Lord done thus unto the land? What meaneth the heat of this great
anger? Then shall men say. Because they have forsaken the covenant of
the Lord God of their fathers." This was the sin that caused God to send
His people Israel into captivity, and to remove the candlestick from the
Asian churches. It is for this sin, that the sword is now devouring
Germany, Ireland, and England. God hath sent His sword to avenge the
quarrel of His covenant.

The reasons why this sin is a God-provoking sin, are, First, because
that, to sin against the covenant is a greater sin than to sin against a
commandment of God, or to sin against a promise, or to sin against an
ordinance of God. 1. It is a greater sin than to break a commandment of
God; for the more mercy there is in the thing we sin against, the
greater is the sin. Now there is more mercy in a covenant than in a bare
commandment. The commandment tells us our duty, but gives no power to do
it. But the covenant of grace, gives power to do what it requires to be
done. And therefore, if it be a hell-procuring sin to break the least of
God's commandments, much more to be a covenant breaker. 2. It is a
greater sin than to sin against a promise of God; because a covenant is
a promise joined with an oath. It is a mutual stipulation between God
and us: and therefore, if it be a great sin to break promise, much more
to break covenant. 3. It is a greater sin than to sin against a