174 The Gofpel ofCircumc f on. Canaan ; how he had foretold the AfHi&ion of bis Seed for four hun- dredYears, and their Deliverance afterward ; how the Lord had gi- ven him the Covenant of Circumcifion, and how ( under the Inílu- ence of this Covenant ) Ifaac was born, and Yacob, and the reft of the Patriarchs. And hegave him the Covenant ofCircumcifion. I (hall give you no other Do&rine but the Words themfelves. Doll. That _Godgave toAbraham the Covenant of Circumcifion. That which I defign and intend, is a little Explanation of Circumcifion, and of the Covenant thereof, ( for that is the Phrafe here ) and that in re- ference to our Attendance upon God in this Ordinance of the New Teftament-Circumcifion, which we are now to wait upon hint in. To open to you the Nature of Circumcifion. You know there is an outward, and an inward part ofit, as there is in all other Signs and 'Sacraments whatfoever. Something mutt be fpgken, a. Ofthe Sign, the Natureofthe external Ordinance, 2. Of the Covenant that it relates to. 3. What thole Refpeffs are wherein it Both relate to that Covenant. I. For the external part of this Ordinanceof Circumcifion. It was the cuttingaway theForeskin of the Flefh of Abraham, and his Male-feed tipon the eighth Day. The firft Inftitution of this Ordinance is re- corded, Gen. 17. to,r:r. This is my Covenant which ye (hall keep between me andyou, and thy Seed after thee, every Man child among you¡hall be Circumcfd :.Andye 'hall circumcife the Flefh ofyour Foreskin, &c. The Lord did appoint the Seal of this Covenant to be in that part of the Body, in his infinite Wifdom and Soveraignty, a thing which carnal Reafon would defpife. There feems to be two principal Accounts of it. r. Becaufe thofe Members of the Body are fo much abu fed to Sin, in the way of lIncleannefs and Filthinefs ; therefore the Lord would now fan&ify them, and feperate a Seed and Generation to himfelf: ,':And ufually the greateft Wrath of God to theSouls of Men, is ex- preffed by giving them up to abufe thofe Parts of the . Body. The World was grown very degenerate, and the Lord was refolved to leave a Monument, an everlafting Monument of his Wrath for thole 'Sins in all Ages, and therefore deftroysSodom, Gen. 113. and before this Deftruétion, he appoints this Seal and Ordinance. 2. Another Account of it is this, that it might be a fure and a ítrongWall of Partition, between the Jewifh and Gentile Nations ofthe World. It made the Partition Wall the later, becaufe carnal Keafon .could
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