Circumcise thine heart.
Circumcision
Circumcision was the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham, mention of which we have in Genesis 17:1-27, and which the first martyr, St. Stephen, quoted in that remarkable address in Acts 7:8, where he said, “And He gave him the Covenant of Circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day.” And St. Paul in writing to the Romans 4:11, speaking of Abraham, says, “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.” This sign was also made with Abraham’s seed--that is, Christ--as St. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16. This was then the Covenant of Grace, the Gospel which preceded the law. To Israel this covenant was an outward sign that God would give them rest in Canaan; and to all of us it is a sign continued in Christian baptism, and a seal that “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city.” This rite of circumcision was performed by the cutting off of the flesh of the foreskin; this was cut off and cast away, to show that the body of the sins of the flesh must be put off; a list of what some of these are we have in Colossians 3:5. On this account we are told in Deuteronomy 10:16, “Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts,” and in the text, “Circumcise thine heart.” Ishmael was circumcised although the covenant was made with Abraham and Isaac, for the children of believing parents must be sealed with its seal for the reasons given by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:14. The act of circumcising the male child was a painful ceremony, and was full of meaning, suggesting then what the New Testament teaches now, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” This rite of circumcision was administered to a child who could know nothing except pain. What good was it? How unreasonable! and how cruel--we would be prompted to ask. Following our own reason, no child would have received the rite; but we should remember what Locke says, “Whatever is Divine revelation ought to overrule all our opinions, prejudices, and interests, and hath a right to be received with full assent. Such a submission as this of our reason to faith, takes not away the landmarks of knowledge, this shakes not the foundations of reason, but leaves us that use of our faculties for which they were given us.” But God’s commands upon this subject far outstrip man’s reason and man’s feelings upon the subject. For there was a penalty attached to disobedience; the child not circumcised was to be cut off from his people, he was to die. In Colossians 2:11-12, we are told this of baptism, which now answers to the rite of circumcision, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him, through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.” This rite of baptism is equally for babes as well as for those of mature years, even for those only a few weeks old. Parents ought to see that their children receive it. I shall now endeavour to show you in what two points circumcision differs from baptism.
1. Baptism in its literal sense, taken as an outward rite, is of universal and continual obligation, that is, as long as this dispensation (the dispensation of the Spirit) lasts, though it is only in the first of these that it differs from circumcision.
2. Taken in its literal sense, circumcision was the initiatory rite of the old covenant, as baptism is of the new; both are placed at the threshold of church privileges. In circumcision a man was pledged to keep the whole law (Galatians 5:3), whereas in baptism a man is pledged to put on Christ. The case of the Ethiopian eunuch.
As there are two points of difference between circumcision and baptism, there are on the other hand three points of resemblance.
1. In a spiritual sense both have the same signification, both point to the renewal of the heart, which is required of all.
2. Neither circumcision, nor baptism, are of value as mere rites, unaccompanied, by the spiritual grace which they typify; “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.”
3. “Baptism doth also save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Above all, the Spirit of God is all essential. The truths which circumcision teach us, and the blessings of which it was the pledge, are the birthright of every real child of God. It taught what baptism now teaches us, the total depravity of the human nature, its inability to please God, and its unfitness to partake of His mercy. Circumcision was also like our initiatory sacrament baptism--a sign and pledge of the remedy which infinite love has devised for the depravity of the heart. “A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” All these blessings are now communicated to every genuine member of the Christian Church. Our blessed Lord therefore submitted to the rite of circumcision. It was right that He should bear the evidence of being a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh. Although He had no personal pollution to put off, yet His submitting to circumcision was an essential part of His humiliation, and of the obedience by which He fulfilled all righteousness. It was also one of those sacred actions in which He sustained the character of the representative of His people. Now, what are we to learn from all this, and more especially those that are parents and guardians? As circumcision was originally an admission unto covenant relationship with God, Jesus, the Son of the Highest, submitted to it the eighth day, when Joseph exercised his parental right over Jesus, as man, in giving. Him His name, and by His baptism by St. John, He fulfilled the law by obedience. From the manger at Bethlehem to the Cross on Calvary, He did the will of God till it was finished. What an example for us all to follow in His blessed steps. In order to do so, we must see that our hearts are circumcised. In like manner baptism as the covenant of grace, of which it is the symbol, is higher than that of the law, with greater privileges and blessings. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The last act of grace is, as the promise under our consideration implies, ensured by the first act of grace. The primary change of heart effected by the operation of the Holy Spirit, is the pledge of the final accomplishment of the purposes of sovereign love. “The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart that thou mayest live.” (C. T. Buchanan.)
The circumcision of the heart: a description of true religion
I. The purity of its character: “The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart,” etc. Circumcision was originally instituted to ratify the covenant which the Lord made with Abraham His faithful servant (Genesis 17:10-11). It subsequently became a distinguishing and standing rite in the Jewish Church. It was an outward and typical sign of an internal and spiritual grace. Hence we read of “the circumcision of the flesh made with hands,” and also of “the heart made without hands,” by Jesus Christ. Circumcision, therefore, of the heart implies--
1. The renovation of its moral powers. Human nature is totally depraved, and every man’s heart is “desperately wicked.” Hence we must be spiritually circumcised and made holy, or we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven (Hebrews 12:14). This inward circumcision includes a deliverance from the power and pollution of sin, and an actual participation of the Divine nature.
2. The special result of Divine operation. “The Lord thy God will, etc., and the heart of the seed,” who shall believe in His name. He only is able to achieve this great and glorious change.
II. The excellency of its principle: “To love the Lord thy God,” etc. Purity of heart is invariably accompanied with the principle of Divine love. When grace becomes predominant, it sways the whole empire of the soul, and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. The object which the believer’s love embraces, “The Lord thy God.”
1. His essential character demands our love. He is the Lord--the uncreated, infinite, and eternal Jehovah.
2. His relative character also demands our love. He is thy God--not only Creator, Legislator, Benefactor, but also Redeemer, Saviour, Portion. Thine by innumerable obligations, relations, and endearments: by right, by purchase, by covenant, by adoption, by enjoyment, by profession, and by anticipation.
3. The degree to which the believers love extends. “With all thy heart, and with all thy soul.”
(1) It must be sincere, and not in word and tongue only, but in deed and in truth.
(2) Intense, not a lukewarm and languishing desire, but a vigorous and hallowing flame, ever burning on the altar of the heart.
(3) Supreme, admitting no rival, but refining and regulating all subordinate attachments to inferior objects.
(4) Entire in its character, casting out all tormenting fear, reaching to all the faculties of the soul, and engaging all the powers and energies of the mind.
(5) Progressive, “abounding yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment, being rooted and grounded in love, and filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).
III. The felicity of its subjects. “That thou mayest live.” This assertion affords both instruction and encouragement. It plainly intimates the destructive tendency of sin, and the quickening and saving efficacy of Divine grace.
1. The misery of the impenitent is fairly implied. Life’s opposite is death: and those who lose the former must endure the latter. The wicked are already legally dead by the condemning sentence of the law, are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins; and except they speedily repent, they will eternally perish.
2. The reward of the righteous is Divinely promised: “That thou mayest live.” This gracious promise is very comprehensive. It not merely includes a negative deliverance from a death of sin, but is also expressive of the peculiar excellency and perpetuity of religion as a principle of spiritual and eternal life.
We may conclude by observing--
1. The necessity of personal purity, without which the external ordinances of Christianity are insufficient and unprofitable. And--
2. The exalted character and blessedness of the pious, as participants of saving grace, and heirs of the glorious “inheritance of the saints in light.” (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Circumcision of heart
I. The blessing to be bestowed--circumcision of heart.
1. The truths which circumcision taught, and the blessings of which it was the pledge, are the birthright of every real child of God.
2. All these blessings are communicated to every genuine member of the Christian Church through Christ. A circumcised Saviour affords a pledge of--
(1) A perfect obedience on behalf of His people.
(2) The putting away of the guilt of sin.
(3) The personal and internal circumcision which distinguishes all the real children of God.
3. God, as sovereign, retains to Himself the application of these blessings.
4. Their extension to the seed of those who partake of this spiritual circumcision is a further illustration of God’s sovereignty and benignity towards His people.
II. Its immediate result: love to God.
1. The source of this love: God Himself.
2. The ground on which He lays claim to it--
(1) His absolute excellencies.
(2) His particular relations.
3. Its extent and intensity. We must love God with all our heart.
III. Its ultimate issue; everlasting life. A life of--
1. Enjoyment.
2. Activity.
3. Growth.
4. Permanency.
Learn--
1. The due distinction between the symbolical and spiritual.
2. The blessed character of true religion. (J. Hill, M. A.)
The true circumcision
I. The author of it. “The Lord thy God.” He alone can deal effectively with our heart, and take away its carnality and pollution.
II. Where it is wrought. It is not of the flesh, but of the spirit. It is the essential mark of the covenant of grace.
III. The result. “That thou mayest live.” To be carnally minded is death. In the overcoming of the flesh we find life and peace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)