CHAPTER IV. 345 Cure. IV.--The Abrahamical Dispensation ; or, the Religion of Abraham. I. When the great God saw that the greatest part of man- kind in snipe generations after the flood, bad let go the know- ledde and worship öf the true God, ór mingled it with many superstitions and idolatries, he resolved to clime out a special family for himself, in which the true religion should be continued tlíröugh all ages, until the coming, of the Messiah, and by that means also to the end of the world. For this purpose he chose the family of Abraham, who was a descendant of Shein, the sou of Noah. First, God called him out of his own country, that fie might leave all their superstition's and corruptions behind him, and then he appointed him to live in Canaan, a land over- run with idolatry and iniquity, that his house might he a standing monument for God, and a preservatory of truereligion and vir- tue, in opposition to the degeneracies of the nations who dwelt all round him. H. The next edition of the covenant of grace was therefore the same covenant ofNoah, continued toAbraham and his family, With some clearer promises of the Messiah or Saviour. The gospel was preached to Abraham, viz. that the Messiah should arise from his posterity to bless all nations of the earth in due season; Gal. iii. 8. This was the third edition of it, and was distinguished by the addition of a new blessing, viz. a promised inheritance in the land ofCanaan, as an emblem or type of hea- ven, and future happiness. III. And here it should he observed that the promises that God wouldbe the GodofAbraham, of Isaac, and ofJacob, which are construed byChrist into the resurrection of the dead ; Luke xx. 37. as well as the other promises of an inheritance which was typified by Canaan, wereunderstood by Abraham so far as to mean a heavenly country, and a future recompence as St. Paul informs us ; lieb. xi. 10-16. IV. Besides all the duties before required, Godwas pleased to add another special duty to this dispensation, viz. the peculiar precept of circumcision, which was enjoined to Abraham and his posterity. It was given partly as a seal of hisjustification by faith; Rom. iv. 11. and partly as a sign or emblem of the morti- fication of sin, and consequentlyof true repentance, as the com- mencement of it. Whence it came to pass in after-times, that the scriptures speak Of the circumcision of the heart, to signify sanctification, and to manifest the internal and spiritual design of this outward emblem or figure. And it should be observed, that while Moses is using this language, in one place he requires of theJews to circumcise their own hearts; Deut. x. 16. and in another he promisesthat God would circumcise their hearts, and the heart oftheir seed to love God, Ste, Deut. xxx. 6. whence we
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