throughout all ages, from the early covenant of God with Abraham and all his faithful posterity, both Jew and Gentile, he will to his inexpressible satisfaction learn, that as God has given a promise of grace to believers and their Children after them, so he has uniformly afforded them the richest assurance of the blessing, by appointing a particular Sacrament for the initiatory ingrafting of such Children into his Church, as the means of actually conveying the blessing, and as a sign, and seal, and pledge to assure every believer of the same. 1 While these believing Parents contemplate their Child as born in sin, and therefore the Child of wrath, it must be their most anxious : 1 St. Stephen states this idea most concisely and impressively, and in a manner encouraging to every Christian Parent. "And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and intreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place." Here is the promise. Next we have the seal of it;"" and he gave him the covenant of circumcision." Thus assured, Abraham acted on this assurance-" and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day:" and the Patriarchs acted with the same faith: " and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve Patriarchs." The Christian Parent and all his posterity have the same warrant. First the promise; next the assurance and pledge of the promise "the covenant" of Baptism; let him only act with the same faith, and all the blessings of the Covenant shall be to him and his Children. inquiry, how can this Child stand before God without the imputation of sin, and be assured of restoration to his favour? And they will see, that God has done this, for the comfort of believers, by the Sacrament of Circumcision under the Law, and by the Sacrament of Baptism under the Gospel; and that while the seal of ratification has been altered from the blood of Circumcision to the more merciful water of Baptism, the blessing has equally been conferred by promise, and not by any mere act or observance of law, whether under the Law or under the Gospel. And as Circumcision, as preparatory to Baptism, appears to be the hinge on which the question mainly turns, it seems to deserve our more particular attention. Let us consider it first then in its institution. "As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram; but thy name shall be Abraham, for a Father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee; and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlast 66 66 : ing possession; and I will be their God." This is God's part of the covenant, and can it be said from these expressions, that "the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises?" The words seem to convey blessings of two characters. First temporal; Abraham was to "be a father of many nations," he was to be "exceeding fruitful, kings should come out of" him, and "Canaan" should be "an everlasting possession" to him and his "seed after" him. The covenant had, secondly, spiritual blessings for Canaan was to be given to him and his seed "for an everlasting possession," intimating that eternal possession of which Canaan was but a type, concluding the promise with the blessed spiritual assurance, "and I will be their God." Jehovah assures him also in the preceding verse, "and I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." Did the Father of the faithful annex no other meaning to these expressions," to be a God unto thee, 1 and to thy 1 For God to be our God is the highest privilege he can bestow upon us. It is to impart himself to us, with all his communicable excellencies." And in his blood shed upon the cross (says Bradford addressing his God) thou hast made a covenant with me, which thou wilt never forget, that thou art, and wilt be my Lord and my God: that is, thou wilt forgive me my sins, and be wholly mine, with all thy power, wisdom, righteousness, truth, glory, and mercy." seed after thee," in "Canaan an everlasting possession," than that God should be to him a God in providence, in a land flowing with the milk and honey of temporal prosperity? or in this covenant did he see the day of Christ; and recognize God as a God of mercy and grace, pronouncing spiritual blessings on himself and his posterity? If he saw nothing more than temporal blessings in this covenant, his faith had surely but a comparatively poor subject for its confidence; but if he accepted God as his God, and as the God of his seed after him, as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, dispensing spiritual blessings to himself and his offspring; here was a subject of promise worthy of the utmost confidence of the Father of the faithful, in which he recognized himself as the distinguished channel of the primeval blessing of the Messiah, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. And this was surely the object of his faith. Then follows man's part of the covenant : "and God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed,"1 &c. In the painful act of Circumcision, the faithful Jew doubtless recognised the excision of a fleshly nature; and as his faith discerned the spiritual nature of the rite, so did he really enjoy the blessing. But we cannot suppose that any spiritual advantage was conveyed by the rite, any further than that advantage was applied by faith; even as at present, Baptismal washing is not the blessing, but the thing signified, the heavenly cleansing by the blood and Spirit of Christ, which living faith extracts from the application of the sign. It is clear from a variety of passages in scripture, that Circumcision had more than a national distinction, it had a spiritual distinction also. "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart."" And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." * "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem." "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised, &c. for all these nations are uncir3 Deut. xxx. 6. 1 1 Gen. xvii. 2 Deut. x. 16. |