SERMON SEVENTEEN
The Circumcision
of the Heart
Preached
at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University, on January 1,
1733.
"Circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter."
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,
"a setter forth of new doctrines." Most men have so
lived away 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, "Thou bringest strange
things to our ears; we would know what these things mean:"
-- Though he is only preaching to them "Jesus and the resurrection,"
with the necessary consequence of it, -- If Christ be risen,
ye ought then to die unto the world, and to live wholly unto
God.
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 "receiveth not the" word "of
the Spirit of God," taken in their plain and obvious meaning;
"they are foolishness unto him: Neither" indeed "can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned:"
-- 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.
3. That "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter;" -- 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; -- is
one of those important truths that can only be spiritually discerned.
And this the Apostle himself intimates in the next words, --
"Whose praise is not of men, but of God." As if he
had said, "Expect not, whoever thou art, who thus followest
thy great Master, that the world, the one who follow him not,
will say, `Well done, good and faithful servant!' 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's appearing. In that day shalt thou have praise
of God, in the great assembly of men and angels."
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.
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, "from all
filthiness both of flesh and spirit;" and, by consequence,
the being endued with those virtues which were also in Christ
Jesus; the being so "renewed in the spirit of our mind,"
as to be "perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect."
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, "I am rich, and wise, and have
need of nothing;" and convinces us that we are by nature
wretched, and poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked. "It
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.
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.
4. A sure effect of our having formed this right judgment of
the sinfulness and helplessness of our nature, is a disregard
of that "honor which cometh of man," 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 "a very small thing with him, to be
judged by man's judgment." 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 "a liar form the beginning."
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's 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.
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, -- that faith which alone is able
to make them whole, which is the one medicine given under heaven
to heal their sickness.
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 "mighty through
God, to the pulling down of strong-holds," -- to the overturning
all the prejudices of corrupt reason, all the false maxims revered
among men, all evil customs and habits, all that "wisdom
of the world which is foolishness with God;" as "casteth
down imaginations," reasoning, "and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringeth
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
7. "All things are possible to him that" thus "believeth."
"The eyes of his understanding being enlightened,"
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's by redemption, as well as by creation. He feels
what is "the exceeding greatness of this power," who,
as he raise up Christ from the dead, so is able to-quicken us,
dead in sin," by his Spirit which dwelleth in us."
"This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our
faith;" that faith, which is not only an unshaken assent
to all that God hath revealed in Scripture, -- and in particular
to those important truths, "Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners;" "He bare our sins in his own
body on the tree;" "He is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world;" [N.B. The following part of this paragraph is now
added to the Sermon formerly preached.] -- 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, "I know that my Redeemer liveth,"
that I have an "Advocate with the Father," and that
"Jesus Christ the righteous" is my Lord, and "the
propitiation for my sins," -- I know he hath "loved
me, and given himself for me," -- He hath reconciled me,
even me, to God; and I "have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins." 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 "purging
their consciences from dead works;" 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," they now "yield themselves"
entirely "unto God, as those that are alive from the dead."
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
* N. B. The following part of this paragraph is now added
to the Sermon formerly preached.
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's 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, -- presumption or despair. He is neither
discouraged by the misconceived severity of his Lord, nor does
He despise the riches of his goodness." 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 "labor is not in vain," if "whatever
his findeth to do, he doeth it with his might;" 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 - "I," says he, "so 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." 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 "every one,"
saith St. John, "who hath this hope, purifieth himself
even as He is pure." 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 "Love is the fulfilling of the law, the end of
the commandment." 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. "Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are amiable," or honorable;
"if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,"
they are all comprised in this one word, -- love. In this is
perfection, and glory, and happiness. The royal law of heaven
and earth is this, "Thou 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." 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, "The Lord thy God is one
Lord;" "Thou shalt have no other Gods but me;"
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength"
"Thou shalt cleave unto him;" "The desire of
thy soul shall be to His name;" -- is no other than this:
The one perfect Good shall be your one ultimate end. One thing
shall ye desire for its own sake, -- 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 "fellowship
with the Father and the Son;" the being joined to the Lord
in one Spirit. One design you are to pursue to the end of time,
-- 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: "One thing is needful:"
And if thine eye be singly fixed on this one thing, "thy
whole body shall be full of light." Thus St. Paul: "This
one thing I do; I press toward the mark, for the prize of the
high calling in Christ Jesus." Thus St. James: "Cleanse
your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded."
Thus St. John: "love 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." 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; -- "is not
of the Father," cometh not from, neither is approved by,
the Father of spirits; "but of the world:" It is the
distinguishing mark of those who will not have Him to reign
over them.
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 "corruption
of his nature," "whereby be is very far gone from
original righteousness," being prone to all evil, averse
to all good, corrupt and abominable; having a "carnal mind
which is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of
God, nor indeed can be," 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 "honor which cometh of God only;"
and neither desires nor pursues that which cometh of man, unless
so far only as it tends to this.
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 "faith
of the operation of God:" 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 "seeking
Him that is invisible;" "looks not at the things that
arc seen, which are temporal, but at the things that arc not
seen, which are eternal;" 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.
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
of things on the intrinsic excellence of virtue, and
the beauty of actions flowing from it; on the reasons
as they term them, of good and evil, and the relations
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: "Let him be
accursed."
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. "If any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he is none of his." 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."
This is God's short and plain account of true religion and virtue;
and "other foundation can no man lay."
5. From what has been said, we may, Thirdly, learn, that it
none is truly "led by the Spirit," unless that "Spirit
bear witness with his spirit, that he is a child of God;"
unless he see the prize and the crown before him, and "rejoice
in hope of the glory of God." 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 "respect unto the recompense of
reward;" to balance toil with the "joy set before
us," these "light afflictions" with that "exceeding
weight of glory." Yea, we are "aliens to the covenant
of promise," we are "without God in the world,"
until God, "of his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again
unto a living hope of the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,
and that fadeth not away.
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 ? -- 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.?
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,
first "to enter in at the strait gate;"-that one who
v. as "conceived and born in sin," and whose "inward
parts are very wickedness," should once entertain a thought
of being "purified as his Lord is pure," unless he
tread in His steps, and "take up his cross daily;"
unless he "cut off His right hand," and "pluck
out the right eye, and cast it from him ;" -- that he should
ever dream of shaking off his old opinions, passions, tempers,
of being "sanctified throughout in spirit, soul, and body,"
without a constant and continued course of general self-denial!
8. What lees than this can we possibly infer from the above-cited
words of St. Paul, who, living "ill infirmities, in reproaches,
in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses" for Christ's
sake; -who, being full of "signs, and wonders, and mighty
deeds," -- who, having been "caught up into the third
heaven;" -- 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? "So run I,"
says he, "not 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 "beateth
the air."
9. To as little purpose does He talk of "fighting the
fight of faith," 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, -- 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. "Though 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."
Nay, "though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and
my body to be burned, and have not love, it profit me nothing."
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. "Unto 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:" 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." "Have a pure intention
of heart, a steadfast regard to his glory in all your actions."
"Fix your eye upon the blessed hope of your calling, and
make all the things of the world minister unto it." For
then, and not till then is that "mind in us which was also
in Christ Jesus;" when, in every motion of our heart, in
every word of our tongue, in every work of our hands, we "pursue
nothing but in relation to him, and in subordination to his
pleasure;" when we, too, neither think, nor speak, nor
act, to fulfil our "own will, but the will of him that
sent us;" when, whether we;' eat, or drink, or whatever
we do, we do all to the glory of God."
Edited by Dave Giles with corrections by Ryan
Danker and George Lyons of Northwest Nazarene University for
the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.
Copyright
© 1999 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology. Text
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