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will be safest for every man to leave his complaint on himself. It
God knows the heart,
is a small thing for me, to be judged of men.
and will bring secret things to light. Some say, I needed not have
gone away, but if I would. If my heart deceive me not, it is seve-
ral years since I gave up with mine own will, and in this I have
As I came to this place
followed what I took to be God's will.
under a sense of a call from God, and durst not do otherwise; so I
go from it under a sense of God's call, which for my soul I durst
not disobey, whatever difficulties I may meet with, though I should
die at the end of it. Pray for a minister from the Lord. Pray in
secret. Meet together, and pray for one. And, in the meantime,
make conscience of family duties; watch over one another, and live
in peace together.

I leave my testimony to the doctrine of the confession of faith, as the doctrine of Christ; and against the errors of the time. And I exhort you to cleave to that doctrine. I give my testimony to the covenanted work of reformation, and believe that the national and the solemn league and covenant were of God; and I exhort you to cleave thereto, against popery, prelacy, superstition and ceremonies. And mourn for this, that by the union, a nail is sent from Scotland, to fix the Dagon of the English hierarchy in its place in our country.

Above all, I exhort you to go to Christ, and be daily making use of him, for the supply of all your wants. I dare not say I have been useless here. I hope you and I will not forget the many sweet days we have had in this place. Christ has been with us at sermons, both on sabbath days and week days. We have had much of his presence at communions, and I bless God that ever put it in my heart to celebrate the sacrament in the winter. I hope you will particularly remember, and never forget the sabbath after our last communion.

I have come so far short of my duty to you as a minister, that if God should enter into judgment with me on that account, I should undoubtedly be damned. But for pardon, I flee to the same blood of Jesus Christ, which I have preached to you. And I advise you to take the same course with respect to your shortcomings. Now, I beseech you, pray for me; and God forbid that I should cease to for that Simprin may always be as a field that the Lord pray you, hath blessed. Now I will say no more, but conclude with the words of the apostle, Acts xx. 32, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified." Amen.

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THE

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

OF

REAL CHRISTIANS.

Being the substance of several Sermons.

PHILIP. iii. 3,

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

THE apostle here gives a reason why he had called those false teachers, against whom he cautions the Philippians, the concision; viz. because he and all true believers, and not they, had the best claim to circumcision. In the words there are two things.

I. A position: "We are the circumcision."

II. The proof of it; taken from the description of the true circumcision, which agrees to believers, and them only.

In the position we have,

1. The party to whom the honourable controverted character belongs: We. Which includes, (1.) The apostle himself, who was circumcised in the flesh, ver. 5. (2.) The Philippian Church, to whom he speaks; who being of the Gentiles, were not circumcised in the flesh; which was the great quarrel the false apostles had with them. Yet this character doth not comprehend all of the church of Philippi; but the saints among them, to whom the following description agreed, and therefore all believers; that is, all that "worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

2. That character itself; "the circumcision, i. e. the circumcised people, Rom. xv. 8. Now, they were not the circumcised in the flesh; therefore it is meant of their circumcision in the spirit. See the distinction, Rom. ii. 29, "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 had the thing signified by circumcision; while others that boasted of

circumcision, had only the bare outward sign. And as the thing is far better than the sign of it, so they deserved the name best.

Before we proceed farther, we may deduce a few doctrinal observations from this first part of the verse.

DOCTRINE 1. The sacraments of the Old and New Testament are in substance the same. The baptized Philippians, who were baptized with the Holy Ghost, as well as with water, are said to be circumcised. And so the apostle attributes our baptism and the Lord's supper after a sort to the church of the Jews; 1 Cor. x. 1, 2, 3, 4, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: (For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ)." As the covenant was always the same in substance, so the seals of it were the same too. I note this, to guard against the Popish error, in making the sacraments of the Old Testament only shadow forth that grace which the sacraments of the New do confer, according to them; and that they were not the same in efficacy.

DOCTRINE 2. The reality of that which seducers do pretend unto, will more readily be found in those that conscientiously oppose them. These men run down the apostle, and other believers, in the point of circumcision; giving out themselves only for the circumcised ones. But the apostle proves they had a better claim to it, than those that made all the noise about it. Thus the works of holiness are to be found more with those that press justification by faith, than with others who would be looked on as the great patrons of good works.

USE. Be not then deceived with fair speeches, but examine matters to the bottom; for often do those that have the highest pretences to right on their side, go farthest from it. And think it no uncouth thing, to find those who have deserted the principles of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland in their separation, give out themselves for the only adherents thereto.*

DOCTRINE 3. The sign in religion without the thing signified, is little worth. They are but the concision, and deserve no other

The author means here the people called Old Dissenters, the followers of Mr. McMillan; who are also the people immediately levelled against in his printed sermon on schism.

name, that have only circumcision in the flesh. We are the circumcision that have the thing signified thereby.

To confirm this, consider,

1. All it can do is but to give a name before men, which they lose before God: Rom. ii. 28, 29, "For 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." Christians we will be called amongst men, upon our receiving the sign of it; but we will be but as the children of the Ethiopian before the Lord, if we have no more. It may give us an honourable title in the world, but it is but an empty title before God.

2. The sign is but a mere external thing, on which nothing of weight for salvation can hang: it is too little to make any saving difference betwixt them that have it, and others that want it. And therefore when the Lord comes to judgment, he throws down all together, Jer. ix. 25, 26; for he looks not to the outward appearance, to lay any weight upon it, but to the heart.

3. The sign in religion without the thing signified, is but an inefficacious thing; as a body without a spirit. The sacraments have each two parts, the sign, and the thing signified, sacramentally united. He then that hath got the sign only, hath only the half, and the meanest half too. Sacraments are seals of the covenant; but where there is no covenant, there can be no seal: and what avails a seal at a blank? They apply Christ to believers; but where there is no receiving, how can they apply?

4. As men may in Christ's livery abide in the devil's service, so they may and will go with it into the place prepared for the devil and his angels, if they have not the thing signified. Thus our Lord, Luke xiii. 26, 27, tells us, that some shall say to him at the last day, "We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets;" but that he shall say unto such, "I tell you, I know you not whence you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Some are circumcised, and yet are dogs, ver. 2. Of this chapter, whose place is without. As to this privilege, avail it may to men's greater condemnation, but no further.

For APPLICATION: Is the sacramental sign little worth without the thing signified thereby? then I would have you take a back-look of your baptism and communicating. For to change the word into that which the gospel gives, we may say, We, and only we, are the baptized, the communicants, that "worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." For there are two great truths which plainly follow from this,

1. Baptism with water without being baptized by the Holy Ghost is little worth. It is the dreadful sin of the generation, that they never reflect seriously on their baptism. Hence are two great evils. (1.) They are childfen of Belial, they go without a yoke. They live as if they had never sworn allegiance to the King of heaven, but were entirely their own, and none Lord over them. (2.) They will be children of Belial, they will go without a yoke. They will not renew their baptismal vows in the sacrament of the supper, nor prepare themselves thereto. They will come under any covenant or engagement to men to advance their worldly interest; but they will not come under engagements to the Lord. They are obliged to their parents' care in their infancy, that got them baptized; but if they had been yet unbaptized, and would act like themselves, they would refuse and slight baptism, as well as the other sacrament. But let me lay home to the consciences of baptized persons, a few queries touching their baptism.

1st, In the general. It is true, ye are washed with water; but are ye baptized indeed? Ye have got the sign, but have ye got the thing signified? Baptized ye were with water, but were ye ever to this day baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire; i. e. the Holy Ghost working like fire? Alas! that universal coldness in the things of God in our affections, says, that as to most men, the fire of God's Spirit never came on them yet.

2dly, But more particularly, I would ask you,

(1.) Hast thou ever yet seen thy natural pollution, that universal defilement of thy whole man, how that Adam left thee lying in thy blood, and a child of wrath? Eph. ii. 3. Hast thou ever yet seen the filth of sin so deep in thy nature and life, that no tears, prayers, &c. of thine, but only the blood and Spirit of Christ, could wash thee? In baptism there is a profession of all this. If thou hast not seen this, what avails thy baptism? why wast thou washed at all with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?

(2.) Wast thou ever yet made partaker of the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; that is, the thing signified by baptism, Tit. iii. 5. 6? Alas! what avails the washing of the body with water while the blood of Christ has never been sprinkled on the conscience, nor the water of the Spirit of Christ poured on the filthy soul, John iii. 5? Alas! I fear many may in this matter make that confession of their faith, Acts xix. 2. "We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost:" and therefore I would say, ver. 3. "Unto what then were ye baptized? They know nothing about regeneration, nor the Spirit's work upon the soul.

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