\u201cCircumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Romans 2:29.<\/p>\n
1. It is the melancholy remark of an excellent man, that he who now preaches the most essential duties of Christianity, runs the hazard of being esteemed, by a great part of his hearers, \u201ca setter forth of new doctrines.\u201d Most men have so lived away<\/i> the substance of that religion, the profession whereof they still retain, that no sooner are any of those truths proposed which difference the Spirit of Christ from the spirit of the world, than they cry out, \u201cThou bringest strange things to our ears; we would know what these things mean:\u201d \u2014 Though he is only preaching to them \u201cJesus and the resurrection,\u201d with the necessary consequence of it, \u2014 If Christ be risen, ye ought then to die unto the world, and to live wholly unto God. <\/p>\n
2. A hard saying this to the natural man, Who is alive unto the world, and dead unto God; and one that he will not readily be persuaded to receive as the truth of God, unless it be so qualified in the interpretation, as to have neither use nor significance left. He \u201creceiveth not the\u201d word \u201cof the Spirit of God,\u201d taken in their plain and obvious meaning; \u201cthey are foolishness unto him: Neither\u201d indeed \u201ccan he know them, because they are spiritually discerned:\u201d \u2014 They are perceivable only by that spiritual sense, which in him was never yet awakened for want of which he must reject, as idle fancies of men, what are both the wisdom and the power of God. <\/p>\n
3. That \u201ccircumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;\u201d \u2014 that the distinguishing mark of a true follower of Christ, of one who is in a state of acceptance with God, is not either outward circumcision, or baptism, or any other outward form, but a right state of soul, a mind and spirit renewed after the image of Him that created it; \u2014 is one of those important truths that can only be spiritually discerned. And this the Apostle himself intimates in the next words, \u2014 \u201cWhose praise is not of men, but of God.\u201d As if he had said, \u201cExpect not, whoever thou art, who thus followest thy great Master, that the world, the one who follow him not, will say, \u2018Well done, good and faithful servant!\u2019 Know that the circumcision of the heart, the seal of thy calling, is foolishness with the world. Be content to wait for thy applause till the day of thy Lord\u2019s appearing. In that day shalt thou have praise of God, in the great assembly of men and angels.\u201d<\/p>\n
I design First, particularly to inquire, wherein this circumcision of the heart consists; and, Secondly, to mention some reflections that naturally arise from such an inquiry. <\/p>\n
I. 1. I am, First, to inquire, wherein that circumcision of the heart consists, which will receive the praise of God. In general we may observe, it is that habitual disposition of soul which, in the sacred writings, is termed holiness; and which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin, \u201cfrom all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;\u201d and, by consequence, the being endued with those virtues which were also in Christ Jesus; the being so \u201crenewed in the spirit of our mind,\u201d as to be \u201cperfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.\u201d <\/p>\n
2. To be more particular: Circumcision of heart implies humility, faith, hope, and charity. Humility, a right judgment of ourselves, cleanses our minds from those high conceits of our own perfection, from that undue opinion of our own abilities and attainments, which are the genuine fruit of a corrupted nature. This entirely cuts off that vain thought, \u201cI am rich, and wise, and have need of nothing;\u201d and convinces us that we are by nature wretched, and poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked. \u201cIt convinces us, that in our best estate we are, of ourselves, all sin and vanity; that confusion, and ignorance, and error reign over our understanding; that unreasonable, earthly, sensual, devilish passions usurp authority over our will; in a word, that there is no whole part in our soul, that all the foundations of our nature are out of course. <\/p>\n
3. At the same time we are convinced, that we are not sufficient of ourselves to help ourselves; that, without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing but add sin to sin; that it is He alone who worketh in us by his almighty power, either to will or do that which is good; it being as impossible for us even to think a good thought, without the supernatural assistance of his Spirit, as to create ourselves, or to renew our whole souls in righteousness and true holiness. <\/p>\n
4. A sure effect of our having formed this right judgment of the sinfulness and helplessness of our nature, is a disregard of that \u201chonor which cometh of man,\u201d which is usually paid to some supposed excellency in us. He who knows himself, neither desires nor values the applause which he knows he deserves not. It is therefore \u201ca very small thing with him, to be judged by man\u2019s judgment.\u201d He has all reason to think, by comparing what it has said, either for or against him, with what he feels in his own breast, that the world, as well as the god of this world, was \u201ca liar form the beginning.\u201d And even as to those who are not of the world; thought he would choose, if it were the will of God, that they should account of him as of one desirous to be found a faithful steward of his Lord\u2019s goods, if haply this might be a means of enabling him to be of more use to his fellow-servants, yet as this is the one end of his wishing for their approbation, so he does not at all rest upon it: For he is assured, that whatever God wills, he can never want instruments to perform; since he is able, even of these stones, to raise up servants to do his pleasure.<\/p>\n
5. this is that lowliness of mind, which they have learned of Christ, who follow his example and tread in his steps. And this knowledge of their disease, whereby they are more and more cleansed from one part of it, pride and vanity, disposes them to embrace, with a willing mind, the second thing implied in circumcision of the heart, \u2014 that faith which alone is able to make them whole, which is the one medicine given under heaven to heal their sickness.<\/p>\n
6. The best guide of the blind, the surest light of them that are in darkness, the most perfect instructor of the foolish, is faith. But it must be such a faith as is \u201cmighty through God, to the pulling down of strong-holds,\u201d \u2014 to the overturning all the prejudices of corrupt reason, all the false maxims revered among men, all evil customs and habits, all that \u201cwisdom of the world which is foolishness with God;\u201d as \u201ccasteth down imaginations,\u201d reasoning, \u201cand every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.\u201d <\/p>\n
7. \u201cAll things are possible to him that\u201d thus \u201cbelieveth.\u201d \u201cThe eyes of his understanding being enlightened,\u201d he sees what is his calling; even to glorify God, who hath bought him with so high a price, in his body and in his spirit, which now are God\u2019s by redemption, as well as by creation. He feels what is \u201cthe exceeding greatness of this power,\u201d who, as he raise up Christ from the dead, so is able to-quicken us, dead in sin,\u201d by his Spirit which dwelleth in us.\u201d \u201cThis is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith;\u201d that faith, which is not only an unshaken assent to all that God hath revealed in Scripture, \u2014 and in particular to those important truths, \u201cJesus Christ came into the world to save sinners;\u201d \u201cHe bare our sins in his own body on the tree;\u201d \u201cHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world;\u201d \u2014 but likewise the revelation of Christ in our hearts; a divine evidence or conviction of his love, his free, unmerited love to me a sinner; a sure confidence in his pardoning mercy, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost; a confidence, whereby every true believer is enabled to bear witness, \u201cI know that my Redeemer liveth,\u201d that I have an \u201cAdvocate with the Father,\u201d and that \u201cJesus Christ the righteous\u201d is my Lord, and \u201cthe propitiation for my sins,\u201d \u2014 I know he hath \u201cloved me, and given himself for me,\u201d \u2014 He hath reconciled me, even me, to God; and I \u201chave redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.\u201d<\/p>\n
8. Such a faith as this cannot fail to show evidently the power of Him that inspires it, by delivering his children from the yoke of sin, and \u201cpurging their consciences from dead works;\u201d by strengthening them so, that they are no longer constrained to obey sin in the desires there of; but instead of yielding their members unto it, as instruments of unrighteousness,\u201d they now \u201cyield themselves\u201d entirely \u201cunto God, as those that are alive from the dead.\u201d <\/p>\n
9. Those who are thus by faith born of God, have also strong consolation through hope. This is the next thing which the circumcision of the heart implies; even the testimony of their own spirit with the Spirit which witnesses in their hearts that they are the children of God. Indeed it is the same Spirit who works in them that clear and cheerful confidence that their heart is upright toward God; that good assurance, that they now do, through his grace, the things which are acceptable in his sight; that they are now in the path which leadeth to life, and shall, by the mercy of God, endure therein to the end. It is He who giveth them a lively expectation of receiving all good things at God\u2019s hand; a joyous prospect of that crown of glory, which is reserved in heaven for them. By this anchor a Christian is kept steady in the midst of the waves of this troublesome world, and preserved from striking upon either of those fatal rocks, \u2014 presumption or despair. He is neither discouraged by the misconceived severity of his Lord, nor does He despise the riches of his goodness.\u201d He neither apprehends the difficulties of the race set before him to be greater than he has strength to conquer, nor expects there to be so little as to yield in the conquest, till he has put forth all strength. The experience he already has in the Christian warfare, as it assures him his \u201clabor is not in vain,\u201d if \u201cwhatever his findeth to do, he doeth it with his might;\u201d so it forbids his entertaining so vain a thought, as that he can otherwise gain any advantage, as that any virtue can be shown, any praise attained, by faint hearts and feeble hands; or, indeed, by any but those who pursue the same course with the great Apostle of the Gentiles – \u201cI,\u201d says he, \u201cso run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest, by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.\u201d 10. By the same discipline is every good soldier of Christ to inure himself to endure hardship. Confirmed and strengthened by this, he will be able not only to renounce the works of darkness, but every appetite too, and every affection, which is no subject to the law of God. For \u201cevery one,\u201d saith St. John, \u201cwho hath this hope, purifieth himself even as He is pure.\u201d It is his daily care, by the grace of God in Christ, and through the blood of the covenant, to purge the inmost recesses of his soul from the lusts that before possessed and defiled it; from uncleanness, and envy, and malice, and wrath; from every passion and temper that is after the flesh, that either springs from or cherishes his native corruption: as well knowing, that he whose very body is the temple of God, ought to admit into it nothing common or unclean; and that holiness becometh that house for ever, where the Spirit of holiness vouchsafes to dwell. 11. Yet lackest thou one thing, whosoever thou art, that to a deep humility, and a steadfast faith, hast joined a lively hope, and thereby in a good measure cleansed thy heart from its inbred pollution. If thou wilt be perfect, add to all these, charity; add love, and thou hast the circumcision of the heart \u201cLove is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment.\u201d Very excellent things are spoken of love; it is the essence, the spirit, the life of all virtue. It is not only the first and great command, but it is all the commandments in one. \u201cWhatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are amiable,\u201d or honorable; \u201cif there be any virtue, if there be any praise,\u201d they are all comprised in this one word, \u2014 love. In this is perfection, and glory, and happiness. The royal law of heaven and earth is this, \u201cThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.\u201d 12. Not that this forbids us to love anything besides God: It implies that we love our brother also. Nor yet does it forbid us (as some have strangely imagined) to take pleasure in any thing but God. To suppose this, is to suppose the Fountain of holiness is directly the author of sin; since he has inseparably annexed pleasure to the use of those creatures which are necessary to sustain the life he has given us. This, therefore, can never be the meaning of his command. What the real sense of it is, both our blessed Lord and his Apostles tell us too frequently, and too plainly, to be misunderstood. They all with one mouth bear witness, that the true meaning of those several declarations, \u201cThe Lord thy God is one Lord;\u201d \u201cThou shalt have no other Gods but me;\u201d \u201cThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength\u201d \u201cThou shalt cleave unto him;\u201d \u201cThe desire of thy soul shall be to His name;\u201d \u2014 is no other than this: The one perfect Good shall be your one ultimate end. One thing shall ye desire for its own sake, \u2014 the fruition of Him that is All in All. One happiness shall ye propose to your souls, even an union with Him that made them; the having \u201cfellowship with the Father and the Son;\u201d the being joined to the Lord in one Spirit. One design you are to pursue to the end of time, \u2014 the enjoyment of God in time and in eternity. Desire other things, so far as they tend to this. Love the creature as it leads to the Creator. But in every step you take, be this the glorious point that terminates your view. Let every affection, and thought, and word, and work, be subordinate to this. Whatever ye desire or fear, whatever ye seek or shun, whatever ye think, speak, or do, be it in order to your happiness in God, the sole End, us well as Source, of your being. 13. Have no end, to ultimate end, but God. Thus our Lord: \u201cOne thing is needful:\u201d And if thine eye be singly fixed on this one thing, \u201cthy whole body shall be full of light.\u201d Thus St. Paul: \u201cThis one thing I do; I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.\u201d Thus St. James: \u201cCleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.\u201d Thus St. John: \u201clove not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.\u201d The seeking happiness in what gratifies either the desire of the flesh, by agreeably striking upon the outward senses; the desire of the eye, of the imagination, by its novelty, greatness, or beauty; or the pride of life, whether by pomp, grandeur, power, or, the usual consequence of them, applause and admiration; \u2014 \u201cis not of the Father,\u201d cometh not from, neither is approved by, the Father of spirits; \u201cbut of the world:\u201d It is the distinguishing mark of those who will not have Him to reign over them. <\/p>\n
II. 1. Thus have I particularly inquired, what that circumcision of heart is, which will obtain the praise of God. I am, in the Second place, to mention some reflections that naturally arise from such an inquiry, as a plain rule whereby every man may judge of himself, whether he be of the world or of God. And, First, it is clear from what has been said, that no man has a title to the praise of God, unless his heart is circumcised by humility; unless he is little, and base, and vile in his own eyes; unless he is deeply convinced of that inbred \u201ccorruption of his nature,\u201d \u201cwhereby be is very far gone from original righteousness,\u201d being prone to all evil, averse to all good, corrupt and abominable; having a \u201ccarnal mind which is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be,\u201d unless he continually feels in his inmost soul, that without the Spirit of God resting upon him, he can neither think, nor desire, nor speak, nor act anything good, or well-pleasing in his sight. No man I say, has A title to the praise of God, till he feels his want of God; nor indeed, till he seeketh that \u201chonor which cometh of God only;\u201d and neither desires nor pursues that which cometh of man, unless so far only as it tends to this. <\/p>\n
2. Another truth, which naturally follows from what has been said, is, that none shall obtain the honor that cometh of God, unless his heart be circumcised by faith; even a \u201cfaith of the operation of God:\u201d Unless, refusing to be any longer led by his senses, appetites, or passions, or even by that blind leader of the blind, so idolized by the world, natural reason, he lives and walks by faith; directs every step, as \u201cseeking Him that is invisible;\u201d \u201clooks not at the things that arc seen, which are temporal, but at the things that arc not seen, which are eternal;\u201d and governs all his desires, designs, and thoughts, all his actions and conversations, as one who is entered in within the veil, where Jesus sits at the right hand of God.<\/p>\n
3. It were to be wished, that they were better acquainted with this faith, who employ much of their time and pains in laying another foundation; in grounding religion on the eternal fitness<\/i> of things on the intrinsic excellence<\/i> of virtue, and the beauty<\/i> of actions flowing from it; on the reasons<\/i> as they term them, of good and evil, and the relations<\/i> of beings to each other. Either these accounts of the grounds of Christian duty coincide with the scriptural, or not. If they do, why are well meaning men perplexed, and drawn from the weightier matters of the law, by a cloud of terms, whereby the easiest truths are explained into obscurity ? If they are not, then it behooves them to consider who is the author of this new doctrine; whether he is likely to be an angel from heaven, who preacheth another gospel than that of Christ Jesus; though, if he were, God, not we, hath pronounced his sentence: \u201cLet him be accursed.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Our gospel, as it knows no other foundation of good works than faith, or of faith than Christ, so it clearly informs us, we are not his disciples while we either deny him to be the Author, or his Spirit to be the Inspirer an Perfecter, both of our faith and works. \u201cIf any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.\u201d He alone can quicken those Who are dead unto God, can breathe into them the breath of Christian life. and so prevent, accompany, and follow them with his grace, as to bring their good desires to good effect. And, as many as are thus led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.\u201d This is God\u2019s short and plain account of true religion and virtue; and \u201cother foundation can no man lay.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. From what has been said, we may, Thirdly, learn, that it none is truly \u201cled by the Spirit,\u201d unless that \u201cSpirit bear witness with his spirit, that he is a child of God;\u201d unless he see the prize and the crown before him, and \u201crejoice in hope of the glory of God.\u201d So greatly have they erred who have taught that, in serving God, we ought not to have a view to own happiness ! Nay, but we are often and expressly taught of God, to have \u201crespect unto the recompense of reward;\u201d to balance toil with the \u201cjoy set before us,\u201d these \u201clight afflictions\u201d with that \u201cexceeding weight of glory.\u201d Yea, we are \u201caliens to the covenant of promise,\u201d we are \u201cwithout God in the world,\u201d until God, \u201cof his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a living hope of the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. <\/p>\n
6. But if these things are so, it is high time for those persons to deal faithfully with their own souls who are so far from finding in themselves this joyful assurance that they fulfil the terms, and shall obtain the promises, of that covenant, as to quarrel with the covenant itself, and blaspheme the terms of it; to complain, they are too severe; and that no man ever did or shall live up to them. What is this but to reproach God, as if He were a hard Master, requiring of his servants more than he enables them to perform ? \u2014 as if he had mocked the helpless works of his hands, by binding them to impossibilities; by commanding them to overcome, where neither their own strength nor grace was sufficient for them.? <\/p>\n
7. These blasphemers might almost persuade those to imagine themselves guiltless, who, in the contrary extreme, hope to fulfil the commands of God, without taking any pains at all. Vain hope ! that a child of Adam should ever expect to see the kingdom of Christ and of God, without striving, without agonizing<\/i>, first \u201cto enter in at the strait gate;\u201d-that one who v. as \u201cconceived and born in sin,\u201d and whose \u201cinward parts are very wickedness,\u201d should once entertain a thought of being \u201cpurified as his Lord is pure,\u201d unless he tread in His steps, and \u201ctake up his cross daily;\u201d unless he \u201ccut off His right hand,\u201d and \u201cpluck out the right eye, and cast it from him ;\u201d \u2014 that he should ever dream of shaking off his old opinions, passions, tempers, of being \u201csanctified throughout in spirit, soul, and body,\u201d without a constant and continued course of general self-denial!<\/p>\n
8. What lees than this can we possibly infer from the above-cited words of St. Paul, who, living \u201cill infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses\u201d for Christ\u2019s sake; -who, being full of \u201csigns, and wonders, and mighty deeds,\u201d \u2014 who, having been \u201ccaught up into the third heaven;\u201d \u2014 yet reckoned, as a late author strongly expresses it, that all his virtues would be insecure, and even his salvation in danger, without this constant self-denial? \u201cSo run I,\u201d says he, \u201cnot as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air which he plainly teaches us, that he who does not thus run, who does not thus deny himself daily, does run uncertainly, and fighteth to as little purpose as he that \u201cbeateth the air.\u201d<\/p>\n
9. To as little purpose does He talk of \u201cfighting the fight of faith,\u201d as vainly hope to attain the crown of incorruption, (as we may, Lastly, infer from the preceding observations,) whose heart is not circumcised by love. Love, cutting off both the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, \u2014 engaging the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, in the ardent pursuit of that one object,-is so essential to a child of God, that, without it, whosoever liveth is counted dead before him. \u201cThough I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.\u201d Nay, \u201cthough I give all my goods to feed the poor, and my body to be burned, and have not love, it profit me nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
10. Here, then, is the sum of the perfect law; this is the true circumcision of the heart. Let the spirit return to God that gave it, with the whole train of its affections. \u201cUnto the place from whence all the rivers came thither let them flow again. Other sacrifices from us he would not; but the living sacrifice of the heart he hath chosen. Let it be continual offered up to God through Christ, in flames of holy love. And let no creature be suffered to share with him: For he is a jealous God. His throne will he not divide with another: He will reign without a rival. Be no design, no desire admitted there, but what has Him for its ultimate object. This is the way where in those children of God once walked, who, being dead, still speak to us:\u201d Desire not to live, but to praise his name: Let all your thoughts, words, and works, tend to his glory. Set your heart firm on him, and on other things only as they are in and from him. Let your soul be filled with so entire a love of him, that you may love nothing but for his sake.\u201d \u201cHave a pure intention of heart, a steadfast regard to his glory in all your actions.\u201d \u201cFix your eye upon the blessed hope of your calling, and make all the things of the world minister unto it.\u201d For then, and not till then is that \u201cmind in us which was also in Christ Jesus;\u201d when, in every motion of our heart, in every word of our tongue, in every work of our hands, we \u201cpursue nothing but in relation to him, and in subordination to his pleasure;\u201d when we, too, neither think, nor speak, nor act, to fulfil our \u201cown will, but the will of him that sent us;\u201d when, whether we;\u2019 eat, or drink, or whatever we do, we do all to the glory of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cCircumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.\u201d Romans 2:29. 1. It is the melancholy remark of an excellent man, that he who now preaches the most essential duties of Christianity, runs the hazard of being esteemed, by a great part of his hearers, \u201ca setter forth of new … Continue reading “THE
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