Thomas Manton · 6 of 46

A Description of the True Circumcision. · Part 3

[2.] It is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. So much is asserted by the apostle: Rom. v. 5, ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’ Our dry reason cannot give such a lively sense of these comforts as the revelation of the Holy Ghost. And this is the difference between a believing by tradition and believing by inspiration. Believing by tradition giveth us but cold thoughts of these mysteries, but believing by inspiration warmeth the heart, and reviveth it with an unspeakable joy, and is called ‘tasting the good word,’ which is the privilege of those who are enlightened by the Spirit, Heb. vi. 4; and a tasting that the Lord is gracious, 1 Peter ii. 3; which much differeth from the common reflection upon those things which flesh and blood may give us, or the bare reports of men stir up in us. The Spirit’s light is lovely, and ravisheth and transporteth the soul; and where it is permanent and rooted, it effectually changeth the soul. Some are altogether careless, not affected at all with these things, as the habituated worldly sinner, 1 Cor. ii. 14. They are folly to him; for spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. Some are to a degree affected by the common work of the Spirit, Heb. vi. 4-6; but it is not rooted, it is not predominate, so as to control other affections and delights; they have a rejoicing in the offers of pardon and life, but it is a joy that leaveth some darling sin still predominant. But there is a third sort that have such a taste of these things that they are renewed and changed by it, Heb. iii. 6. Now, then, if you would have this rejoicing in Christ Jesus, you must apply yourselves to Christ, in the use of the appointed means, for the renewing of your natures; for love and delight are never forced, nor will be drawn forth by bare commands and threatenings, yea, and not by the proposal of promises, though the enjoyments be never so great and glorious. This may a little stir us, and this is the matter of joy, but not the cause of joy. But this joy proceedeth partly from the inclination when the heart is suited, and partly from the attractive goodness of the object; and both are powerfully done by the Holy Spirit as the heart is renewed, and the object is most effectually represented by him, Eph. i. 17, 18. And this we must wait for.

[3.] It is received and believed by faith. This is often told us in the Scripture: 1 Peter i. 18, ‘In whom believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory;’ and Rom. xv. 13, ‘The God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing.’ We cannot be affected with the great things Christ hath done and purchased for us till we believe them. There is in faith three things—assent, consent, and affiance.

(1.) Assent, or a firm and certain belief of the truth of the gospel concerning Christ as the only sufficient Saviour, by whom alone God will give us the pardon of sins and eternal life: John iv. 42, ‘We have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world;’ and John vi. 69, ‘We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.’ When we are verily persuaded of this, as we are of anything that appeareth true to us, this stirreth up joy. Others have but a hearsay knowledge, not a believing assent. Surely Christ is a delectable object; what hindereth, then, but that we rejoice in him? Nothing but want of faith; for if this be true, we so necessitous, and he so all-sufficient a remedy, why are we not so affected with these things as the worth of them doth deserve? Nothing can be rationally said but that we are not soundly persuaded of the truth of it.

(2.) A consent. This grace is dispensed by a covenant which bindeth mutually, assureth us of happiness, and requireth duty from us. Therefore an unfeigned consent, or a readiness to fulfil those terms expressed in the promise, is required of us, or a resolution to repent and obey the gospel. Christ hath offices and relations that imply our comfort, and other offices and relations which imply our duty; or rather, the same do both. He is our teacher and king, as well as our priest; and we must submit to be ruled and taught by him, as well as depend upon the merit of his sacrifice and inter cession: Heb. v. 9, ‘And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him.’ And they are so taught the truth that is in Jesus, that they put off the old man, and put on the new, Eph. iv. 20, 21. True believers must be scholars, daily learning somewhat from Christ; yea, his priesthood implieth duty, dependence, humble addresses; a broken-hearted coming to God by him; as his kingship and prophetical office implieth privilege also. His defending and teaching us by his Spirit.

(3.) There is affiance, which is a reposing of our hearts, or a relying upon God promising remission of sins and eternal life for Christ’s sake alone—that he will be as good as his word, while we diligently use the means ordained to this end, Rom. ii. 7. And this confidence hath an influence upon this joy, Heb. iii. 6, or a delightful sense of our Redeemer’s grace.

[4.] It is improved by meditation; for the greatest things do not work unless we think of them, and work them into our hearts. The natural way of operation is, that objects stir up thoughts, and thoughts stir up affections: Ps. civ. 34, ‘My meditation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord.’ The more frequent and serious thoughts we have of the love of God in Christ, and the more deep and ponderous they are, the more do they blow up this holy fire into a flame. Now, for this end was the Lord’s Supper instituted, where the whole gospel is applied and sealed to us, that this delight might be afresh acted and stirred in us at the Lord’s Table, while our minds are taken up in considering Christ the great apostle and high priest of our confession, Heb. iii. 1. Surely it should not be an idle and fruitless contemplation; it should stir up love, and what stirreth up love stirreth up delight. I come now to the last part of the description.

[5.] The particular affection caused by this sense is mentioned: We delight in the grace of the Redeemer more than in all other things whatsoever.

Where—(1.) Take notice of the affection itself.

Then—(2.) The degree of it.

(1.) The affection itself, which is delight, or a well-pleasedness of mind, in the grace that is brought to us by the knowledge of Christ. This enlargeth the heart, and filleth it with a sweetness and contentment; and the vent of it is praise, for the heart being enlarged, can not hold and contain itself: Ps. ix. 14, ‘I will show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Sion; I will rejoice in thy salvation.’ Joy cannot be kept within doors; it will break out in all suitable ways of expression. The heart doth first rejoice, and then the tongue doth overflow. The heart is filled with joy, and then the tongue with thanksgiving. So Ps. xxxv. 9, ‘My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in his salvation.’ Nothing disposeth the heart to praise so much as this holy joy. There is no true thanksgiving if this be not at the bottom of it.

(2.) For the degree: The heart doth delight in Christ above all other things. As to the sensitive expression in the lively stirring of joy, we may to appearance be more affected with outward benefits, because fleshly objects do more work upon our fleshly senses, as carrying a greater suitableness to them. Religion is a grave, severe thing, not seen so much in actual transports, as in the habitual complacency and well-pleasedness of the mind: yet in solemn duties there may be as great ravishment of soul: Ps. lxiii. 5, ‘My soul shall be ravished as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.’ When they feel the love of God shed abroad in their hearts, they are in effect transported with it, more than with all the delicates and banquets of the world, and cannot hold from praising God. But generally it must be measured by our solid complacency and judicious esteem. What we prize most, and would least want, and would not forego for all other things; so the saints rejoice in God and Christ more than in any worldly matter whatsoever: Ps. lxxiii. 25, ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee;’ Ps. cxix. 14, ‘I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches;’ Ps. iv. 6, 7, ‘There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us; thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased;’ Ps. lxiii. 3, ‘Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.’ This is that which they love most, and keep best, and are most loth to want. This is that which giveth a value to life itself; and without which that which is most precious and desirable is little or nothing worth; and giveth them more comfort than what is most comfortable in this world; and is the most cheerful employment for their thoughts to think upon. This is delight in Christ.

II. Whether this may be had without assurance? And can those who are dark in their interest in Christ, and know not whether they have any grace or no, rejoice in him? To this I answer, Yes, certainly; for there are general grounds of rejoicing, for the gospel bringeth glad tidings to sinners, as it offereth to them a way how to escape out of their misery, and enter into the peace of God.

But more distinctly:—

1. The scripture speaketh of a twofold rejoicing in Christ—before faith and after faith. Before faith is full-grown and is but in the making, as those, Acts xiii. 48, ‘When they heard this, they were glad,’ &c.; and he that had found the true treasure, for joy thereof sold all that he had, Mat. xiii. 44. There was joy before the thorough consent—though introductive of it, yet antecedent to it. And the reason is, because God hath showed them the way how to free themselves from misery, and to enjoy true felicity and happiness. Now, if there may be a joy before faith, certainly before assurance. The very offer of a remedy is comfortable when in misery. And then there is a joy after faith, as joy and peace in believing, when they take the course to get this liberty and deliverance by Christ; yet this is faith, not assurance. As a sick man, when he heareth of an able physician who hath cured many of the same disease wherewith he is oppressed, he rejoiceth, and conceiveth some hope that he maybe cured also. When he hath lighted upon this physician, and beginneth to make use of his healing medicines, he is more glad, and expecteth the cure. But when he is perfectly recovered, and feeleth it, then he is glad indeed. So when a broken-hearted creature heareth the glad tidings of the gospel, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, he rejoiceth that God hath found out such a Saviour to recover the lapsed estate of mankind. But when he submitteth to Christ’s healing methods, and trusts himself with his skill and fidelity, he is more comforted, and doth more intimately feel the benefit of this course in his own soul; but as he groweth more assured of his health and salvation, his comfort still increaseth, and his joy is more unspeakable and glorious. So that this joy may be without assurance, for the causes of it at first are knowledge and faith.

2. There is a joy that accompanieth seeking, even before we attain what we seek after: Ps. cv. 3, ‘Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.’ There is a great deal of contentment in this course, though that complacential joy which is our full reward be yet reserved for us. Yet there is a joy in seeking; better be a seeker than a wanderer. This blessed Saviour am I waiting upon! Though we have attained to little communion with him, yet it is a comfort that we are seeking farther measure. Delight and joy keepeth up our endeavours.

3. When our right is cleared, then we have more abundant joy: 2 Pet. i. 10, 11, ‘Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, you shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be administered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Some are afar off, others not far from the kingdom of God; others make a hard shift to go to heaven through many doubts and fears, some sail into the haven of glory with full sails, with much joy and peace of soul

III. I shall show you the spiritual profit of this joy.

1. It is such a joy as doth enlarge our heart in duty, and strengthens us in. the way of God: Neh. viii. 10, ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength.’ There is a natural deadness and dulness in holy duties, which we often find in ourselves, which cometh to pass partly from the back-bias of corruption, weakening our delight in God, and partly from the remissness of our will towards spiritual and heavenly things. Now, the most proper and kindly cure of it is this delight and rejoicing in Christ; for a man will readily do those things which he delighteth in, though toilsome and difficult. Let the heart be but affected with the grace of Christ, and our joy will soon vent itself in a thankful and delightful obedience: 1 John v. 3, ‘For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous;’ Ps. cxix. 14, ‘I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches;’ Ps. xl. 8, ‘I delight to do thy will, my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.’ The hardest services are pleasant to one that delighteth in Christ; they are sweetened by his love, and quickened and enlivened by the sense and esteem that we have of the benefits he procureth for us. Shall we refuse to do anything for such a compassionate Saviour, who died for us to reconcile us to God, and bring us to the everlasting fruition of him? So that the life of all obedience dependeth on this joy.

2. It is our cordial to fortify us against all the calamities and infelicities of the present world, and maketh every bitter thing sweet to us, whether they be the common afflictions incident to man, or persecutions for righteousness’ sake.

[1.] For the common afflictions. A Christian is never in a right frame till he hath learned contentment in all estates; that he doth not overjoy in worldly comforts, nor overgrieve for worldly losses, 1 Cor, vii. 30, but carrieth himself as one that is above the hopes and fears of the world. Now, there are many means to be used that we may get this humble and composed frame of heart; but the most constant and effectual cure of worldly sorrow is to keep our rejoicing in Jesus Christ, and to be satisfied with the fruits of his redemption. This, like the wood that was cast in at Marah to make the bitter waters sweet, doth sweeten our troubles, and supply our wants, and swallow up our griefs and infelicities; for we have that in Christ which is better than the natural comfort taken from us: Hab. iii. 17, 18, ‘Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’ He supposeth not only some want, but an utter destitution and desolation of all things, and yet his heart was kept up by joy in God. So elsewhere, Rom. xii. 12, ‘Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.’ The comfort of reconciliation with God, and the hopes of heaven, do most breed patience in afflictions. And, certainly, joy is the best cure of sorrow; contraria contrariis curantur. Now, the joy that must be opposed to worldly sorrow is not worldly, but either spiritual or heavenly joy. Spiritual in the present fruits of Christ’s death: Heb. xii. 11, ‘Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.’ Heavenly; surely eternal joys will best vanquish temporal sorrows: Heb. xii. 2, ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ This will enable us patiently and cheerfully to bear all things.

[2.] Persecutions. We need to be fortified against this, that we may boldly profess our faith in Christ, without any fear of sufferings, and may not faint under them, but bear them with courage and constancy Now, this is the fruit of this rejoicing in Christ; witness these scriptures: Acts v. 41, ‘They went away rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name;’ Heb. x. 34, ‘Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.’ So Mat. v. 12, ‘Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you;’ and in many other places; and 1 Peter iv. 13, ‘Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with an exceeding joy;’ and James i. 2, ‘Count it all joy, when ye fall into divers trials.’ Surely, Christ and heaven are worth something, and such. trials do in part show how much we esteem him, and value him above any interest of ours.

3. It doth draw off the heart from the delights of the flesh. Not only contraria contrariis curantur, but similia similibus. Carnal pleasures put the soul out of relish with better things, and draw off the heart from God. A fleshly mind is easily blinded and enchanted with worldly vanities; therefore, it concerneth us to check our inclination to sense-pleasing and flesh-pleasing, which is so natural to us. How shall it be cured but by seeking our delight elsewhere? Every man must have some oblectation, for love cannot lie idle in the soul; either his love is taken up with the joys of sense or the joys of faith—with vain pleasures or with chaste and spiritual delights. The one spoileth the taste of the other. A spiritual mind, that is feasted with higher delights, cannot relish the garlick, and onions, and flesh-pots of Egypt: Cant. i. 4, ‘We will remember thy loves more than wine.’ And a brutish heart, that is wholly lost and sunk in these dreggy contentments which gratify sense, valueth not the favour of God, thinketh it canting to talk of communion with him, and the joys of hope to be fantastical expressions. They love pleasures more than God, 2 Tim. iii. 4. Now, if we would restrain and check this inclination, we should rejoice in Christ, and delight our minds and hearts in the remembrance of his love and benefits. Whatever pleasure a man doth find or imagine to find in sensual, fleshly courses, that and much more is to be had in Christ, where we rejoice at a surer and more sincere rate: Eph. v. 4, ‘Not jesting, but rather giving of thanks.’ Carnal mirth doth not so cheer worldlings as the remembrance of the favours and blessings we have by Christ. Keep the heart thankful and sensible of God’s goodness and Christ’s love, and you will not need vain delights. So Eph. v. 18, ‘Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.’ These are motives and marks also, for by these three things you may know whether you have this joy, yea or no.

IV. The helps or means by which this joy is raised in us.

1. A sense of sin and misery. This maketh you more sensible of the mercy of the deliverance, and to be more affected with it, as the grievousness of a disease maketh the recovery more delightful. The law condemned you, his ransom must absolve you; sin made you dead, his grace quickeneth and puts life into you. Always as our sense of misery is, so is the sense of the recovery; if one be bitter, the other is sweet. None prize and esteem Christ so much as the broken-hearted and burdened.

2. An entire confidence in Christ: for so it followeth, ‘Have no confidence in the flesh.’ If we have no confidence in the flesh, and look for all from the mercy and bounty of God through Christ, we shall prize him: 1 Peter ii. 7, ‘Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious;’ Phil. iii. 8, ‘Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.’

3. A constant use of the means whereby this joy may be fed and in creased in us; as the word, sacraments, and prayer, The word: Ps. cxix. 102, ‘I have not departed from thy judgments, for thou hast taught me.’ Then prayer, suing out of our right: John xvi. 24, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.’ So for the sacraments; baptism: Acts viii. 39, ‘When they were come up out of the water, the Spirit caught away Philip, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.’ The Lord’s Supper; it is our spiritual refection.

4. Sincerity of obedience: 1 Cor. v. 8, ‘Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleaven bread of sincerity and truth.’ Practical delight is the chiefest, above that of contemplation, a more intimate sense.

We come now to the last part of a Christian’s character: And have no confidence in the flesh. To understand it, consider there are two things called flesh in scripture.

1. External privileges belonging to the worldly life; such as wealth, greatness, and worldly honour. Now to glory in these is to glory in the flesh, and to trust in these is to trust in the flesh, which should be far from Christians: Jer. ix. 23, 24, ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he knoweth me, that I am the Lord,’ &c. Where the prophet laboureth to beat them off from their vain confidences, that they might not rely upon their power, policy, and wealth, but a saving knowledge of and interest in God, whose goodness and faithfulness could only secure them against all evils, and procure them all manner of blessings.

2. The outward duties and performances of religion, especially the ceremonies of Moses. Those, consisting in external observances, are called flesh; and to have confidence in the flesh is to place our confidence in external privileges and duties. For the apostle explaineth himself, ver. 4, ‘Though I might also have confidence in the flesh: if any other man thinketh he may have confidence in the flesh, I more.’ He was not any whit inferior to any of the Judaizing brethren in outward privileges and duties; yea, had greater cause of glorying in the flesh than any of the pretenders among them. And then instances, in his Jewish privileges, circumcision, his family, his sect—a pharisee; his partial obedience or external righteousness—‘as to the law blameless.’ To rest on these things, then, for our acceptance with God is to have confidence in the flesh. And elsewhere he saith, Gal. iii. 3, ‘Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect in the flesh?’ when they reverted to the ceremonies of the law. This is called flesh, because they consist in outward things. Corrupt nature is pleased with such things, and doth plead and stand for them.

Doct. That a good Christian doth not place his hope and confidence of acceptance with God in external privileges and performances.

In the first character, a Christian is described by his worship; in the second, by his joy; in the third, by his confidence.

In handling this point, I shall show you:—

I. What are these externals which are apt to tempt men to a vain confidence.

II. That naturally men are for a mere external way of serving God, and place their whole confidence therein.

III. Why a good Christian should have no confidence in this external conformity to God’s law.

I. What are these externals in religion which are apt to tempt men to a vain confidence? They may be referred to two heads: they are either commanded by God or invented by man—God’s externals or man’s externals.

1. God’s externals: such as he hath instituted and appointed, either in the law of Moses or in the law of Christ. In the law of Moses, such as circumcision, with all the appendent rites. These are called, Heb. ix. 10, ‘Carnal ordinances, imposed on them till the time of reformation.’ These were to be observed while the institution of them was in force and stood unrepealed, which was done at the coming of Christ: John iv. 23, 24, ‘The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’ These made great trouble in the infancy of the church, for the Jews and Judaizing Christians were loth to depart from the rituals under which they were bred and brought up, though Christ fully evidenced his commission from heaven to repeal those laws, and his apostles strongly pleaded the ancient prophecies which foretold it But these are of no more concernment to us, except to direct us how to behave ourselves in like cases.

2. There are externals in the law of Christ, such as the sacraments—baptism and the Lord’s Supper; hearing of the word, external prayer, and the like. Now the rule is that they must be used, but the outward act not rested in as a sufficient ground of our acceptance with God. Used they must be in faith and obedience, because God hath instituted them under great penalties. As circumcision, while the command was in force: Gen. xvii. 14, ‘The man-child whose flesh is not circumcised shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant;’ so baptism: Mark xvi. 16, ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.’ Not want, but neglect or contempt. Therefore, all these duties must be used as means of salvation, and as expressions of the inward truth of our faith in God and obedience to him. We must not cast off ordinances, but yet they must not be rested in as sufficient grounds of our acceptance with God. While circumcision was in force, they relied on it, as it distinguished them from other nations as the genuine seed of Abraham, and so reckoned to be within the covenant. But the servants of God did always disprove this vain confidence: Rom. ii. 28, 29, ‘He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God.’ They rejoiced in a shadow when they wanted the thing signified, if there were no mortification of sin, or putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. But not only the apostle, but the prophet long before disproveth their vain confidence: Jer. ix. 25, 26, ‘Behold, the days come when I will punish them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; Egypt and Edom, with the children of Ammon and Moab, are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart,’ God would proceed against wicked persons and people, circumcised as well as uncircumcised. Were those things spoken to them only, and not to us also? Surely all may learn from hence that by a bare submission to outward rites we are not approved of God, without minding the true reformation of heart and life, and expecting the pardon of our sins by Jesus Christ. You are baptized, but are you washed from your sins? You hear the word, but is it the power of God to your salvation? You frequent sacraments, but is the conscience of the bond of the holy oath into which you are entered upon your hearts? There is more required in Christianity than outward profession, whether in word or deed—namely, the conscience of your dedication to God—or else the work doth not go deep enough: 1 Cor. xiii. 3, ‘Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.’ You content yourselves with your tale and number of duties, praying morning and evening, and reading so many chapters; but where is the spirit and the fruit of all that you do? They that are given to fasting think themselves very devout if they fast often, be their hearts never so full of rancour. Many huddle over many prayers, but they do not go from their heavenly Father with a heavenly mind. They give alms, but live loosely. As Michal laid a statue in David’s bed, and covering it with David’s apparel, made Saul’s messengers believe it was David himself sick in bed; so many persons cover themselves with certain external actions belonging to religion, and the world believeth them truly sanctified and spiritual, whenas, indeed, they are but statues and apparitions of devotion to God. But this is but a vain show, a placing the means instead of the end—the subordinate instead of the ultimate end.