Make no mistake about it, when Salvationists sign their Articles of
War they enter into a covenant with God. The reality that the
landscape of the Canadian Territory, including Peterborough Corps, is
literally littered with broken covenants is a very strong indication
that we have very little comprehension of what it means to enter into
covenant with God. For that reason, our starting point this morning
must be a re-examination of:
THE ROOTS OF BIBLICAL COVENANT MAKING
My posing the question "What is a covenant" may surprise you. The
answer, you might think is rather obvious. That may be true. Asking
for a definition of a covenant is something like asking for a
definition of "mother." You may define her as the person who brought
you into the world. That may be a correct formal definition, but
would any mother here be satisfied with it? The concept of covenant
is firmly rooted in the scriptures. God has repeatedly entered into
covenant with certain people. You can't miss the meaning and
significance of covenant when you read about God's covenant with Noah
(Gen.6:18), Abraham (Gen.15:18), Israel (Exod.24:8), and David
(Psa.89:3). Israel's prophets anticipated the coming of the days of
the "new" covenant (Jer.31:31), and Christ himself spoke of the Last
Supper in covenantal language (Luke 22:20). But what is a covenant?
Let me first of all give you a definition that, for me, captures the
essence of the biblical concept of the covenant then we will move on
to The Salvation Army's use of the term. A covenant is a bond in
blood sovereignly administered. When God enters into a covenantal
relationship with us, he sovereignly institutes a life-and-death
bond. In scriptural terms a covenant is a bond in blood, or a bond
of life and death, and it is sovereignly administered. Now we need to
look closely at the three components of that definition before we
move on to the covenant many of you have signed and we are asking
that you renew or renege on today. A Covenant is a Bond This is the
most essential aspect of a covenant. Whether it is between God and
you or the marriage covenant between your spouse and you, a covenant
binds people together. Nothing lies closer to the heart of the
biblical concept of the covenant than the image of a bond that is
inviolable. A covenant commits people to one another. You find many
examples of these binding oaths in scripture. Sometimes its a verbal
oath (Gen. 21:23, 24, 26, 31: 31:53; Exod.6:8; 19:8; 24:3,7;
Deut.7:8,12; 29:13; Ezek. 16:8). At other times some symbolic action
is attached to the verbal commitment, like the granting of a gift (
Gen.21:28-32), the eating of a meal (Gen.26:28-30; 31:54;
Exod.24:11), the sprinkling of blood (Exod.24:8), the setting up of a
memorial (Gen.31:44f.; Josh.24:27), the offering of sacrifice
(Psa.50:5), the passing under the rod (Ezek.20:37), or the dividing
of animals (Gen.15:10,18). The close relationship between oath and
covenant emphasizes that a covenant in its essence is a bond. By the
covenant people become committed to one another. The presence of
signs in many of the biblical covenants also emphasizes that the
covenant binds people together. The token of the rainbow, the seal
of circumcision, the sign of the Sabbath-these covenantal signs
enforce the binding nature of the covenant. Just as the bride and
groom interchange rings as "token and pledge" of their "constant
faith and abiding love," so the signs of the covenant symbolize the
permanence of the bond between God and his people. A Covenant is a
Bond in Blood That phrase, "A bond in blood" or a bond of life and
death expresses the ultimacy of the commitment between God and his
people in a covenantal context. God never enters into a casual or
informal relationship with us, rather the implications of his bonds
extend to the ultimate issues of life and death. The phrase, "to
make a covenant" in the Old Testament literally means "to cut a
covenant." That's extremely important. All the way across the Old
Testament you find that phrase "to cut a covenant." Moses uses it,
so do the prophets and you'll also find it in the writings (Psalms,
Proverbs, etc.), so it is a very common phrase in scripture and one
that crosses all the lines of types of scripture. The notion of
cutting is an integral part of covenant making in the bible and
throughout the Middle East. As the covenant is made animals are
"cut" in ritual ceremony. You find the most obvious example in
Genesis 15, at the time when God makes his covenant with Abraham.
First Abraham divides a series of animals and lays the pieces over
against one another. Then a symbolic representation of God passes
between the divided pieces of animals. The result is the making or
"cutting" of a covenant. Now what does this dividing of animals mean
at the point of making the covenant? Both biblical and
extra-biblical evidence confirms that there is great significance
here. The animal-division symbolizes a "pledge to the death" at the
point of the covenant commitment. The dismembered animals represent
the curse that the covenant-maker calls down on himself if he should
violate the commitment he has made. In Jeremiah 34:18 Jeremiah
reminds Israel of the seriousness of their disloyalty to God and the
covenant they made when they "passed between the parts of the calf."
He told them that their disloyalty will bring down the curses of the
covenant upon them. That is the context of "cutting a covenant."
The central point for us is that a covenant with God is a pledge of
life and death. The term "bond in blood" indicates that without the
shedding of blood there could be no remission of sins. Blood is of
significance in the bible because it represents life, not because it
is crude or bloody. The life is in the blood (Lev.17:11), and so
shedding it represents a judgement on life. Christ's death was a
judgement on life, but not his own life because he died a
substitutionary death. He died for the covenant-breaker, you and me,
so we would not have to bear the curse of our covenant breaking,
death. You don't understand Christ's death until you understand the
concept of substitution. Because of covenant violations you and I
were condemned to die. Christ took on himself the curses of the
covenant and died in the place of the sinner. His death was
covenantal and substitutionary. A covenant is a bond in blood. It
involves life-and-death consequences. At the point of covenantal
inauguration, the parties of the covenant are committed to one
another by a formalizing process of blood- shedding. This
blood-shedding represents the intensity of the commitment of the
covenant. By the covenant they are bound for life and death.
A Covenant is a Bond-In-Blood Sovereignly Administered
Both biblical and extra-biblical evidence points to the unilateral
form of covenantal establishment. No such thing as bargaining,
bartering, or contracting characterizes the divine covenants of
Scripture. The sovereign Lord of heaven and earth dictates the terms
of the covenant. There may be variation in the form of the contract
but this one aspect never changes. A covenant is a bond-in-blood
sovereignly administered, it is God who writes the covenant for us to
sign. Now, what does all this mean for you and me on this day of
covenant- making and covenant renewal?
.
REVIEWING THE ARTICLES OF WAR
Next to your salvation and holiness experience, the soldier's
covenant, or Articles of War, is the primary building block of
Salvation Army involvement. Every local officer and officer,
regardless of rank or position, is first of all a soldier and
committed to the covenantal nature of the Articles of War. The Old
Testament Oath is replaced with "I know call upon all present to
witness....." The signs of the O.T. covenant are replaced with a
signed document. The blood of animals is unnecessary because of the
shed blood of Jesus Christ, but the bond is still a bond to life or
death. The bond is sovereignly administered because we believe that
God raised up The Salvation Army and that our doctrinal beliefs and
the behavior flowing out of them are biblically based and
scripturally sound. The curses of covenant breaking are also very
real, you know them and your feel them don't you? That divided
spirit, those broken relationships, the heaps of guilt you carry,
there is a cost to breaking this covenant.
The eleven statements of belief summarize our theological base. They
are evangelical in nature and other than the omission of the
sacraments, because we are non-sacramental, they are quite compatible
of other evangelical churches. The ten "I Wills" however, are not so
generic. They represent an uncommon standard, a lofty calling, and
every would-be soldier is reminded of their loftiness and challenged
to think carefully and prayerfully before entering into such a
covenant because it is a covenant with God, not with The Salvation
Army.
RENEW OR RENEGE
Now you don't really know me as a radical corps officer, that may
change in the next few moments. We are about to enroll seven new
senior soldiers. They have heard this speech before and they have
still committed to signing the articles of war. Some of you and some
not present here this morning also need to hear this. There are
broken covenant hanging on walls, lying in closets, and sitting in
dresser drawers around Peterborough, you know that and so do I, guess
what, so does God. Its time to do something about those broken
covenant. There are really just two options; renew them or renege on
them. Remember, there is a Redeemer. Where there has been failure
there is forgiveness, but there must be a repentant spirit. Now
remember repentance means not only sorrow because that may be just a
sadness about being caught in your sin, but repentance is also
characterized by a sincere and determined commitment to change.
Listen to what Oswald Chambers had to say, "It is true that we have
lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this
destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future.
Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in his hands, and step out into
the invincible future with him." If you have sincere desire to do
better, coupled with a genuine repentance, there is forgiveness for
the failure of the past, whether that failure was one of deliberate
sin or naive neglect, God longs to forgive you for your broken
covenant. If we are to be all that God needs us and has called us to
be then we need to be a holy people and, for us a holy people is a
covenant-keeping community, and herein lies the jest of that covenant.
While I am committed to a passionate call to renewal this morning I
am equally committed to a request to renege. If you have a horrific
track record, marked by covenant-breaking and little repentance, you
may want return your covenant rather than compound your sin with the
sin of hypocrisy. Let me illustrate what I mean. When you signed
your articles of war you did so of your own accord but you committed
to an uncommon standard, a lofty lifestyle. For example you took an
oath before God that you would not take alcohol, tobacco, non-medical
drugs, and that you would not become engaged in gambling (lottery
tickets for example), pornography or the occult. To do so would now,
for you, become sinful. Not that there is any particular sin in some
of these materials in and of themselves, the sin is that you have now
broken an oath that you have made before God and this congregation.
Your word is now worth nothing to God or us unless you acknowledge
and repent of your sin. Salvationists should not need to be reminded
of this but they do. When you break the articles of war it is
pointless to rationalize your behavior by saying "he bible doesn't
say 'thou shalt not smoke or drink'" because that is not the issue.
The issue is your broken and worthless word before God." You are no
longer a person of integrity, no longer a worthy mentor, not only
because you have broken the covenant but because you have played the
game of hypocrisy. Now the Army is especially vulnerable to broken
covenants because, while we believe in the covenant as it stands
alone, we have also made it a condition for local officership, for
membership in the band, the songsters, and other groups. The result
is that many have signed it for purely utilitarian reasons, they want
in the band or songsters, so they sign the articles of war. If
you're one of these people, and you know if you are, then I'm asking
that you renew and sign for the right reason, that this is the
standard God is calling you to live by, or return the articles of war
to my office and renege on them. God will honor you for you honesty
if you say to him, "I have no intention of living by this covenant
and I'm tired of living a life of hypocrisy. I have dishonored you,
I have disgraced this corps, I have let down the standard and I have
carried guilt for many years, here's my covenant, its been broken for
many years, you take it back. Now please don't misunderstand me, I'm
not kicking people off the rolls, unless there is good reason to do
so, and sin has always been a good reason in my books, I'm saying,
where there is sin in the camp there is a price for everyone to pay.
When the rolls are reviewed in a few weeks we will look prayerfully
and carefully at every name. If you have a broken covenant, you are
contributing to sin in the camp, renew it with repentance or return
it without regret, but don't keep it in hypocrisy. We need to be a
holy people to be all that God is calling us to be. Now please don't
get the impression that broken covenants are the norm in this corps.
Thank God, there are many godly people here who did count the cost
and who have been faithful to the oath they made before God. If you
have not been, then you can start all over in few minutes, with a
fresh determination and a repentant spirit. God will forgive you and
fill you with his Spirit to enable you to do better in the future and
revival will come to our corps, but it will only come when soldiers
are broken before God and repentant of their sin.