26
August 1708 A.D. Church
of Scotland: Scottish
Wranglings—Ebenezer Erskine’s Personal Covenant
Graves,
Dan. “Ebenezer Erskine’s Personal Covenant.”
Christianity.com. Jul 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/ebenezer-erskines-personal-covenant-11630192.html. Accessed 19 May 2014.
Ebenezer Erskine was a minister in the Church of
Scotland. However, he was an unhappy minister. He found the Bible tedious. He
memorized his sermons but preached them without joy. His wife, Alison Turpie,
wept at his hard heart. His religion was for the most part legalism
(doing good works). He heard her speak with her brother, showing so much more
real knowledge of God than he had, that his heart was troubled.
And then Alison almost died. Ebenezer sat beside
her as she raved in delirium; her words, filled with thought of God, tore at
his conscience. She recovered and Ebenezer talked with her about spiritual
things.
As a boy, he had been deeply moved by the opening
words of the ten commandments. "I am the Lord thy God who has brought you
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." As the husband and
wife talked, the words forced themselves back into his mind. Again they made a
tremendous impact on him. For the first time in his life, God became alive to
him. That night he got his "head out of time and into eternity." His
conversion came on this day, August 26, 1708.
Good Scotsman that he was--for the Scots were a
people of covenants--Ebenezer wrote out a covenant. "I offer myself up,
soul and body, unto God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I flee for shelter to
the blood of Jesus. I will live to Him; I will die to Him. I take heaven and
earth to witness that all I am and all I have are His."
After that, Ebenezer's preaching focused strongly
on Christ. Tirelessly, he visited the sick, taught from home to home, ate with
his people, found out what they suffered and instructed their youth in the
catechism. So many people came to hear him preach that his services often had
to be moved outside where there was sufficient space for everyone.
At the time when he made his covenant, he was
stationed at Portmoak. Afterwards he was offered a position at Stirling. This
brought him into greater prominence. The Scottish Church and Assembly tried to
stifle his words and reduce his influence. These men examined him in a
humiliating manner and tried to force him to sign a revision of the Scottish
confession. Under the old system (for example) no local congregation had to
accept a minister against their will. Under the new, a minister could be
imposed upon them. At least that is how Ebenezer interpreted the changes.
When Ebenezer preached against the new arrangement,
he was ordered to be quiet. He would not. He and some others were suspended and
finally ejected from their churches. Later, the church acknowledged it had
broken its own rules by those procedures. Meanwhile, Ebenezer helped found the
Secessionist Church. Later the Secessionists split over an oath. Regrettably,
Ebenezer quarreled as badly as the rest.
Bibliography:
1. Boreham, Frank. "Ebenezer
Erskine's Text," in A Handful of Stars. New York: Abingdon, 1922.
2. "Ebenezer Erskine."
Significant Scots. http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/
erskine_ebenezer.htm
3. Various encyclopedia and internet
articles.
Last updated July, 2007
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