be used by every Jew in reference to this sacred memorial : for, having in his own person the appointed sign of his relation to God, he must be continually reminded " whose he was, and whom he was bound to serve."]
3. An emblem of their duties —
[We cannot doubt but that this painful rite was intended to represent the mortification of sin. The Scripture speaks much of the " putting off the whole body of sin ; " " the cruci- fying of the flesh with the affections and lusts ; " " the putting off the old man, and putting on the new:" which expressions exactly coincide with the chief intent of this ordinance : they shew, that we bring a corrupt nature into the world with us ; and that it must be the labour of our lives to put away sin, both original and actual, both root and branch. Indeed St. Paul explains the ordinance in this way, and calls it " a putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh." But there are also other expressions of Scripture which shew that this rite imported the highest degrees of sanctification and holiness. Moses re- peatedly speaks of " the circumcising of the heart to love the Lord with all our heart and all our soul g." And the prophet Jeremiah's language is singularly emphatic : " Circumcise your- selves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench ith." From all these passages we learn, that the ordi- nance was figurative, and designed to instruct the Lord's people in the nature and extent of their duties towards him.]
This rite however being dropped, it will be proper to shew,
II. How those ends are attained under the Christian dispensation —
The rite of circumcision has been superseded by the rite of baptism, just as the passover has given way to the supper of our Lord. The dispensations being changed, a change was made of the two great ordinances which were adapted to Judaism; and others were introduced more immediately suited to Christianity. St. Paul, in reference to the ordinances which we are now comparing, distinctly draws the parallel; and shews that, though different in their nature, they were of precisely the same import : " In Christ," says he, " ye are circumcised with the cir- cumcision made without hands, in putting off the
8 Deut. x. 16. and xxx. 6. h Jer. iv. 4.