Yeah, I'm going to get up and
get it started. Move it to where? Oh, sure. Yeah, just just turn
it. Yeah, perfect. No more? All right. I have an announcement
to make. We're going to be in our new building when we get
in our new building. When it happens it'll happen.
We can get the politicians from giving out so much so much money
for unemployment. Maybe we can get some people
to work. So our contractor says anyway says that's a hard time
getting people to work because They didn't pay too much to stay
home and not work. But whatever, in the Lord's time,
we'll be in our new building. Probably not going to be next
Sunday, but maybe the next. We'll see. We'll see. Psalm 127,
verse one says, except the Lord build the house, except the Lord
build the house. And that's the tabernacle of
your own life, and that's this house. Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. If God doesn't bless
his word to our hearts, then everything we do is in vain.
We're completely dependent upon him for his mercy. and for His
grace. And truly, truly, His strength
is made perfect in our weakness. It's a great place to be. Tom's going to come and lead
us in the number four in your Spiral Hymnal, number four. Let's
stand together. I'm sorry you have to hear me all
these words. I'm just waiting for your answer. eternal grace that gave my soul
a hiding place. Against the God who rules the
sky, I fought with hand uplifted high, despised the mention of
his grace, too proud to seek a hiding place. In thick Egyptian night, and
fond of darkness more than light, madly I ran the sinful race,
secure without a hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran, Almighty love of rest that man. I fell the arrows of distress
and found I had no hiding place. Indignant justice stood in view,
to Sinai's burly mouth I flew. The justice cried with crowning
face, this mountain is no hiding place. Along a heavenly voice
I heard, and mercy's angel form appeared. who led me on with
gentle pace to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. On him, almighty vengeance fell
that must have sunk the world to hell. He bore it for a chosen
race and thus became their hiding place. A few more rolling suns
at most shall land me safe on heaven's coast. Then I shall
sing the law of grace to Jesus Christ my hiding place. If you turn to the book of Matthew,
chapter 11, verses 28 to 30, or I'll follow through with you. The most important question in
our life is perhaps the one question most
of seven or eight billion people in this world don't know. Us
too, for those of you But unless He enables us and
gives us that desire, we're not coming. Keep praying this morning. We'll do an effectual work in
our hearts to come to Him this morning. Unless He does that,
we're not coming. Let's bring this together, pray
to the Lord every day. Come unto me, all ye that labor,
and are heavy laden, and I, I will, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest unto yourselves. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light. Right now, by faith, we are resting
in Christ. But one day, very soon, we're
going to fall asleep. And we will see Him face to face.
And behold, we will be able to worship Him and bow at His feet. This asks the Lord to be able
to convene us. Lord, You know that that's
our heart's desire. And if you did not able us to
place that desire, Lord, we would not. But you have purpose in
eternity's past that we should gather together this very moment,
Lord, to be able to be at your feet to come worship you. Oh,
would you send your spirit to do that now? Lord, we want you
to place that yoke upon us and lead us in the way of your righteousness.
Speak the word of your truth. Lord, and have that bread of
life manifest itself now in the preaching of your gospel. Lord, we confess that we come
to you high and mighty, O Lord. Place us in you that we may be
well in your eye. Lord, a message you place upon
your pastor or brother. Lord, would you enable him now,
make it effectual to his and our hearts, that we may give
you all the glory in worshiping you. Lord, silence this body of death
just for an hour. In heaven and earth and hell
he reigns, and makes his wonders known. His counsels and decrees
are more than mountain sand. He will perform the very creed,
and God shall save his hand. ? The vintage will come through
? ? And it's almighty free ? ? Christ makes the destinies of all ?
? In patchless sovereignty ? ? Wake up, my friends, we say ? ? And
we'll soon return home ? ? For thy peace was our delight,
we pray ? ? And God himself hath replied ? ? Now the day of our
good days ? ? Come while we are out playing ? ? We will drink
some of thy festal drinks ? ? And pass the rest of the day ? Who shall resist his will? Who'll
say what he wills now? Joy of God in the sovereign's
hand, And hope to get close now. Now you'll see the man who loved
you, The glory of his ways, We shall meet in a better spot,
but I will trust His grace. The Lord can then prove Him,
and to Him our all praise. True will be glory ever, in the
day that pays. and and ? Will come a just and tender King
? ? Great is He, great is He ? ?
No more shall all His works decrease ? ? No more shall His steadfast
walk ? Great is He, Great is He. The Lord is King, and bow to
Him we must. God is great, To all is ever just. God is great. God is good. Holy and true are all his ways. Let every creature shout his
praise. You're going to be okay. Through earth and heaven our song shall ring, From your
ungrateful hearts we are set astray. Arise ye saints, join
with our king, Thank you, Lacey. Caelan. Our God reigns. That's what we
just, that's what we just heard. Our God reigns. That's all God's
people need to know. He's on his throne. He does what's
right. And everything he does is perfect.
We can rest there. We open your Bibles with me to
Acts chapter seven. We're still looking at Stephen's
preaching of the gospel to these men of various different denominations,
different synagogues, who did not believe on Christ. And in
verse eight, speaking of Abraham, who the scripture says is the
father of the faithful. He is the prototype of faith. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. And in Romans chapter four, it
makes it clear that Abraham believed God before he was given the covenant
of circumcision. So it wasn't circumcision that
saved Abraham. It was believing the promises
of God. And yet the Lord gave him a token
of that covenant. A covenant is a promise. There
are two covenants spoken of in the scriptures, and there are
but two messages of salvation in the world today. There's only
two. All the hundreds of different
denominational flavors and religious opinions there might be, there
are but two messages of salvation in this world. It's the salvation
by grace, and salvation by works. It is the covenant of works and
it is the covenant of grace. God put Adam in the garden and
put him under the covenant of works. Gave him things to do
in order to maintain his life. And he told him in the day in
which you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
you shall surely die. Adam was not able to keep the
covenant of works. He violated his promise. He told God, I won't eat of that
tree. He made a promise to God, and
then he broke that promise and The consequences of him not keeping
his promise was death. And so the Lord brought in the
covenant of grace, took a lamb, a type of Christ, slew that lamb
in the garden right there in front of Adam, took the fleece
of that lamb, a picture of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and covered the nakedness of Adam because that was the
covenant of grace that was before Adam. Now we read of in Acts
chapter seven, verse eight, and he gave him the covenant of circumcision. This is the covenant of grace. This is the token to the covenant
of grace. We still hear these two covenants
being preached today. The covenant of works goes like
this. If you believe on Christ, then
God will save you. And so you make a promise to
God to believe, and God rewards you for your works with salvation. The covenant of works goes like
this. If you repent of your sins, then God will forgive you. He
will reward your repentance with the blessing of forgiveness.
The covenant of works goes like this. If you serve God with all
of your heart, and the more you serve him, the more he will bless
you. He will reward you for your service
with blessing. That's the message of salvation
that's being declared out in the world. The covenant of grace,
on the other hand, says, I have saved you and you shall believe. The covenant of grace says, I
have forgiven you and you shall repent. The covenant of grace
says, I have blessed you. and you shall serve me. You see, the covenant of grace
is based on God's promises to save his people. Now, who do
you want to rest the hope of your salvation in? Your promise
to God or God's promise to you? You see, faith is believing the
promises of God and all the promises of God. are yea and amen in Christ. This covenant of circumcision,
God gave to Abraham as a token to the covenant of grace. And what happens by what happened
to the Jews is the Jews saw this work of circumcision as their
contribution to salvation. And so they turned the covenant
of grace into a covenant of works. Look at what Paul says in Romans
in Galatians chapter five. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
five. Titled this message, the covenant
of circumcision. The covenant of circumcision.
Circumcision is mentioned time and time again in the Word of
God. And it's important for us that
we understand the significance of circumcision if we are to
have any understanding of the covenant of grace, the only covenant
that saves. And so Paul says, God says to me and
you, in verse one of Galatians chapter
five, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage. Don't go back to the law. Don't
go back to circumcision. Don't go back to your promises
to God or your contribution to your salvation in hopes that
God's going to reward you for something that you've done. Stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you, if you be circumcised, If you look to
something that you have done for God, a fulfillment of your
promise, if you look for the cutting away of your flesh, and
that's what circumcision is. And you talk to people all the
time. They say, well, I know I'm saved because I don't do
the things I used to do. I cut those things away. And
they're looking to the outward evidences of their faith. as
the proof of their salvation. Faith, the scripture says, is
the substance of things hoped for, and faith is the evidence
of things not seen. Well, he says, if you go back
to circumcision, Christ shall profit you nothing. In other
words, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to do all the saving
all by himself and get all the glory or we won't be saved. Circumcision is adding to the
finished work of Christ. It's looking to your faith It's
looking to your works, it's looking to your repentance, it's looking
to your life for some evidence or some cause of salvation. For I testify again, verse three,
to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to the whole
law. So if you're going to look to
something that you're doing, as the cause or evidence of your
salvation, then you are obligating yourself to keep the whole law. The whole law, every every jot
and tittle of it, and not just in what men see. Paul said concerning the law,
I was blameless. In other words, he was saying
I was looking at others opinions of me and they couldn't see me
violating the law. And so I was looking to my life
as the proof of my salvation. But then he said, but when the
law came, sin revived and I died when Christ revealed himself
as the only one who's ever kept the law. That's what I want us
to see in this message, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the
fulfillment of circumcision. All that circumcision represents,
Christ fulfilled. So if you're going to look to
something other than Christ for the hope of your salvation, then
you have made yourself a debtor to the whole law. And Christ,
verse four, is become of no effect unto you, whosoever you are that
are justified by the law, for you are fallen from grace. If it is of works, It can no
longer be of grace. Otherwise, grace is not grace.
You can't mix law and grace. That's what the Lord's saying.
Christ is gonna do it all or he won't do it at all. He's gonna
get all the glory. So now, go back with me to our
text because Stephen is preaching to these Jews who are looking
to their obedience to the law. They're looking to their circumcision
and all that circumcision represents as the hope of their salvation. And Stephen says to him, God
gave to Abraham the covenant of circumcision. This is the
covenant of grace. This covenant goes back farther
than Abraham. It goes back farther than Adam. It goes back into eternity past
before there was time. When God the father promised
to his son to give him a bride. When God the son entered into
that covenant promise with his father to redeem them by the
shedding of his own blood. And that's what circumcision
is a picture of, okay? Circumcision is a picture of
the shedding of blood and the cutting away of the flesh. And
Christ did that on Calvary's cross. We're gonna see that. And that's what this token of
circumcision was all about. It's not circumcision made with
the hands of man, it's circumcision made by God. And so he's, This eternal covenant, when you
go back to the book of Genesis and read about this covenant
of circumcision that God made with Abraham, he calls it an
eternal covenant, an eternal covenant. Now again, eternal
is not something that begins now and lasts forever. When God
speaks of eternal, he's talking about something that never had
a beginning and never has an end. So this covenant of grace,
is eternal. Man didn't have anything to do
with it. God the Father made a promise to the Son, God the
Son made a promise to the Father, and God the Holy Spirit made
a promise to the Father and to the Son to come and make those
whom God chose and those whom Christ redeemed willing in the
day of His power to open the eyes of their understanding and
to give them faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what Stephen was preaching to these men. Why did they stone
him in the end? Why did they hate what he was
saying? Because this message was stripping them of their righteousness. It was robbing them of their
glory. You see, they were looking to
their circumcision. The same reason men hate the
gospel today. I preached this message in India
last night. via Zoom. Some of y'all were
listening. And it was about five weeks ago
when I preached to them last. And I have found out from the
first time to last night that they've lost some folks. There
are some people that are not listening anymore. There's some
people that are not coming anymore. Why? Because they were offended
by the gospel. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
offends the self-righteous. It offends men who are looking
to their circumcision as the cause or the evidence of their
salvation. And they won't have it. It robs
them of their glory. It strips them of their righteousness.
But God's people are glad to be stripped of their righteousness. They're like blind Bartimaeus
who leaves his old dirty garment on the street side and runs to
the Lord Jesus Christ to be robed in his righteousness. God's people
rejoice in the covenant of grace because they know that their
salvation is not dependent upon their faithfulness to keep their
promises, but it's rather dependent upon God's faithfulness to keep
his. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. That's what David meant when
he, on his deathbed, said, although my house be not so with God. The body of this flesh, the tabernacle
of this flesh is full of sin. The evidence of my virtue, if you will, in my family
is not like it ought to be. I've raised sinners, is what
David's saying, although my house be not so with God yet. Yet,
here's my hope, He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure." When was the covenant of grace ordered
in all things and sure? It was ordered when God ordained
it in eternity past, and it was made sure when Christ fulfilled
all of its requirements on Calvary's cross. So David said, this is
all my salvation, and this is all my desire. Everything I have
and everything I need is fulfilled in the covenant of grace. And
now Stephen is preaching to them from this Old Testament token,
this Old Testament type, this Old Testament picture, which
was fulfilled in Christ. He calls it the covenant of circumcision. And by the time he finished,
they hated what they heard. They hated it because it stripped
them of their righteousness. They needed a token. A token
is an outward evidence, a distinguishing mark, a sign. We need a sign. And God says,
a wicked and perverse generation seeketh after a sign. You see,
faith, faith looks unto Jesus. who is himself the author and
the finisher of faith. And you have to have the spirit
of God to do that. Have to have the spirit of God.
That's why the child of God, the verse, Lord, give me your
spirit, enable me. Because the natural man can only
look at the things of the flesh. The natural man looks at the
outward appearances. God looks at the heart. Now, This token that God gave
to the Jews in the Old Testament was a cutting away of the flesh. And it was fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ when he came and offered up his flesh for sin
once and for all on Calvary's cross. We have other tokens in
the Old Testament. We have the token of the rainbow
that God gave to Noah after the flood, and God said, this is
a token that I'm not going to destroy the world again by water. And so we have that outward sign
every time we see a rainbow. We're assured that God's not
going to destroy this world again with water. Next time he destroys
it, it'll be with fire. When Moses was at the burning
bush and was given the instruction to go into Egypt to bring the
children of Israel out, Moses asked the Lord, he said, well,
Lord, I need a sign. I need a sign. And the Lord said,
this shall be a token unto you. When you return unto this mountain
with the children of Israel and worship me at this mountain,
then you'll know that I was with you. In the meantime, you're gonna
have to trust me. You're not gonna have a sign.
You know, that's our, the Lord said, this will be your token.
When you're received up into glory and you see me as I am,
and you're made like me, and you worship me as you've never
worshiped before, that'll be the evidence of your salvation
in the meantime. you're gonna have to walk by
faith, not by sight. When Moses was in Egypt and God gave
him that commandment to slay the Passover lamb, and to take
the blood and put it on the doorpost and the lentil of the doors of
each of the Israelites' homes. God said, this will be a token
unto me. Not a token unto you, it'll be
a token unto me. Could the children of Israel
on the inside of the house see the blood on the outside of the
house? No. God said, this will be a token unto me. And when
I see the blood, I'll pass by you. So what do we do? We believe that the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that lamb that was without spot and without
blemish, shed on Calvary's cross, fulfilling the covenant of circumcision,
is sufficient as a token unto God for him to pass over us with
judgment. that all the judgment and justice
of God was satisfied in the wrath that he poured out on his son
on Calvary's cross. You see, these things can only
be seen by faith. What's the Lord saying to us?
Don't look. Don't go back to the law. Don't
go back to Egypt. Stand fast in the liberty where
Christ has made you free. If you're going to look to circumcision,
you're going to be a debtor to the whole law. Christ is the
fulfillment of this circumcision. Now there are those who will
try to draw a line between the token of circumcision in the
Old Testament and baptism in the New Testament. They have
nothing to do with each other. Jeremiah chapter 31, and repeated
again in Hebrews chapter 10, God says, I will make a new covenant. with my people. It will not be
like the old covenant that they weren't able to keep. In this
new covenant, I'm going to write my laws upon their hearts. and
upon their minds I will impress them. And no longer will it be
necessary for them to say to their brother, know the Lord,
know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of
them, even unto the greatest." You see, in Israel, babies were
circumcised at eight days old. When Mary and Joseph took the
Lord Jesus into the temple, Zechariah proclaimed that prophecy, On
the eighth day to be dedicated, he was circumcised in fulfillment
of the law. But that's not the fulfillment
of this circumcision. This covenant of circumcision
was accomplished on Calvary's cross. And now in the new covenant,
we don't baptize babies. That's contrary to the gospel
to say that a child is a member of the covenant of grace. The only way to be a member,
that's why the Lord said no longer. You see, in the Old Testament,
the children of Israel had to say to one another, you need
to know the Lord. The believers had to say to the
unbelievers who were in Israel, you don't know God. But in the new covenant, in the
new Israel, we don't say that. Why? Because
we all know him. from the least even unto the
greatest." Baptism is not the continuation of circumcision. Baptism is the testimony of the
believer of his union with Christ. We're going to witness baptism
this morning. And in baptism, we're saying, when Christ died,
I died. When Christ raised from the dead,
I raised from the dead. The only hope of salvation I
have is by virtue of my union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is all my righteousness before God. It is a testimony to the
church and to the world, and it is a witness of the gospel,
but it is not circumcision. So what is the New Testament
application of circumcision? Well, turn with me, if you will,
to Romans chapter two. Verse 29, Romans chapter two,
verse 29. 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. Why are men offended by the gospel?
Because they love the praise of men more than the praise of
God. This New Testament circumcision
is the cutting away of the flesh in the heart by the Spirit of
God so that every child of God can say, we are the circumcision. which worship God in the Spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. How do I know I've been circumcised
in the heart by the Spirit of God? Because I can't find any
confidence for my salvation in any fleshly method whatsoever.
The Spirit of God has cut away the hope of my salvation being
founded in anything that I do. And he's caused me to worship
God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. That's New Testament
circumcision. And that's only done by the Spirit
of God and only can be seen through divine faith. What does the world
do? Oh, they go back to the covenant
of works, don't they? That's what circumcision is.
Physical circumcision is a covenant of works. Let me show you another
passage of Scripture. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
one. Philippians chapter one. Look at verse 28. and in nothing terrified by your
adversaries. Adversaries to the gospel, don't
be terrified by them. Which is to them, what is to
them? The fact that they stand contrary
to the gospel. The fact that they are looking
to a covenant of works for the hope of salvation and are offended
by the gospel of grace because it robs them of their righteousness. To them, it is a token of their
perdition. There's the New Testament token.
Their unbelief and their opposition to the gospel is a token of their
perdition, but to you, To you, look at the rest of this verse,
to you it is a token of your salvation and that of God. What's a token of your salvation?
Your faith in Christ, your belief in the gospel, your hope in the
righteousness and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
for all your salvation before God. That's your token. You're not looking to the cutting
away of some flesh in your life as the evidence of your, you're
looking to Christ. For unto you, look at verse 29,
for unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on him, but also to suffer for his sake. All that would live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You stand for the gospel of God's
grace, you're gonna have some enemies. You're gonna have some
enemies. And the Lord made it clear, the
worst, the enemies that are gonna break your heart the most are
gonna be of your own household. They're gonna be of your own
household, they're gonna hate you for it. Why? Because there's only two messages
of salvation. And the majority of the world
believes in a covenant of works. And Stephen is preaching to these
religious elites who are of the synagogue of Satan. He's preaching
to them the covenant of circumcision, the covenant of grace. You remember in Exodus chapter
four, after the Lord spoke to Moses at the burning bush and
told him what to do, Moses got his wife, Zipporah, and his young
son, Eleazar, and headed out to Egypt. And in Exodus chapter
four, it says that they stopped at an inn on the way to be refreshed. And God was going to kill Moses
that night. I don't know if Moses got deathly
ill, Something happened. It was evident that the Lord
was not pleased with Moses and that God was not going to bring
the children of Israel out of Egypt until something was done. What was that that needed to
be done? Moses had not yet circumcised his child Eleazar. And Moses, I guess, was in no
shape to do it because Zipporah didn't. The scripture says that
Zipporah took a sharp stone and circumcised her child and put
the foreskin at Moses' feet and said to Moses, thou art a bloody
man unto me. Now she didn't say that out of
disrespect or out of anger. She pictures the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ who by their own sin shed the blood of the
child of God, of the son of God, and says to Christ, thou art
a bloody husband unto me. For without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. The children of Israel cannot
be brought out of Egypt until the law is fulfilled. And the
law required circumcision. Now that all pictures Christ
because what Christ did was he came to fulfill the law. He said,
did I come to destroy the law? No, I came to fulfill it, to
fulfill the law. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. Yes, he was circumcised physically
on the eighth day, but spiritually he was circumcised on Calvary's
cross. Let me show you that. Turn with
me, if you will, to Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. We begin reading in verse six,
as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive him? You
received him as your only righteousness. You received him as a sinner.
You look to Christ for the only hope of your salvation, and so
it is, we walk. How did you receive him? You
received him by faith, and you walk by faith. You see, the natural
man who has not the Spirit of God has not faith. And so they
can only walk by sight. And the child of God says, Oh,
Lord, give me your spirit. Increase my faith. Enable me
to see that which the natural man cannot see. As you receive
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk. You never graduate beyond the
life of faith. Rooted and built up in him, and
established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding therein
with thanksgiving. Beware, lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men,
and after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Everything in this world is pointing
men away from Christ. And the Lord's saying to you
and me, beware. Don't let anybody spoil you of
your salvation. Don't let anybody rob you of
your hope and cause you to look somewhere other than Christ for
your salvation. For in him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Everything that we'll ever know
about God is in Christ. and everything that God ever
required of us was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at verse 10, and you are complete. in him which is the head of all
principalities and power in whom also you are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands and putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now did
the Lord Jesus Christ put off the body of sins in the flesh
when he was circumcised at eight days old? No. He did it when
he shed his precious blood. He put away the sins of his people.
He was circumcised just like Zipporah circumcised Eleazar
and it resulted in the salvation of all of God's people. You are
circumcised not with not with things done with your hands.
We don't look to the works of our hands for the hope of our
salvation. We look in faith to that circumcision
done by the Spirit of God accomplished on Calvary's cross when Christ
put away all the sins of all of God's people once and for
all by the sacrifice of himself. That's what Stephen's preaching
to these self-righteous works, religious leaders of the synagogue
of Satan. He's telling them what the meaning
of that token that God gave to Israel was in the covenant of
circumcision. The covenant of circumcision. One last passage, Term of Medi-Galatians,
chapter six. Verse 12, Galatians chapter six. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh. And that's all physical circumcision
is. And that's all the works gospel
is. That's all the covenant of works
is. Men trying to make a fair show in the flesh to other men
who are in the flesh to impress one another about how righteous
they are. They constrain you to be circumcised. Now you remember circumcision
here is not just, it's the whole body of the law. It's a token
of the law of God. It's a picture of everything
that Christ came to fulfill. And so each different group in
the world has a different way of practicing circumcision, don't
they? Some say, well, you have to wear this. And the other says,
we can't wear that. And some says, we have to eat
this. And the others say, we can't eat that. And some say,
touch not, taste not, handle not, all which is the perishing
of the flesh. It's just man's religion. So
the Lord says, don't let anybody spoil you. from the hope of your
salvation, which is fulfilled completely in Christ by putting
you under the law and giving you some circumcision right to
perform in order for them to show a fair show in the flesh. Look what I've done. These are
all my disciples. Look, they've all conformed their
lives to the commandments of men. Or look at the last part of verse
12. Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. Why do men go back to circumcision?
Why do they go back to the law? Well, they've always been in
the law, haven't they? Why won't they believe the gospel? Same reason why these men that
Stephen's preaching to wouldn't believe the gospel. It robs them
of their righteousness, strips them of their glory. makes them
completely dependent upon Christ alone for their salvation. Look at verse 13. For neither
they themselves who are circumcised keep the law. They want you to
be circumcised. They want you to follow their
rules and regulations, but they don't keep the law of God. They
can't keep God's law. Who desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid. God forbid. That's one of the strongest terms
of judgment in all the Bible. God forbid. that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. a new creature, a new nature,
a new heart. That's the new birth. That's
what the Lord was talking to Nicodemus about when he said,
Nicodemus, you can't perceive of the kingdom of God, except
you'd be born again. You've got to be born of the
spirit. You have to have the right of circumcision performed
by grace through faith. in your heart by the Spirit of
God for you to be able to rest all the hope of your salvation
in that circumcision of Christ when he put away through the
shedding of his blood all the sins of his people once and for
all. Otherwise, brethren, we're going
to be spoiled of our hope. We're going to be robbed of our
salvation. If we look to any act of circumcision. What is a true Jew? Romans chapter
two, verse 29, he that is circumcised by the spirit in the heart, not
with the hands of man, he is a child of Abraham. Stephen's
preaching Abraham as the type of salvation. And he's telling
us the meaning of circumcision. May God give us eyes to see. May the Lord give us hearts to
believe on Christ and rest all our hope in his glorious person
and in his finished work of salvation. Let's pray. Our merciful heavenly
Father, bless your word. Give us your spirit. Cause us,
Lord, to set our affections on things above where Christ is
seated at thy right hand. For truly, Lord, the natural
man cannot receive the things of the spirit, for they are spiritually
discerned. Give us your spirit that we might
believe that which cannot be seen by the natural eye. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Tom. 190, 190. Let's stand together. We're going
to sing 190. We will all know it when the moment
comes. Obedience that we feel Baptized
in God the Father's Son and Holy Spirit, three in one, with conscience
free, we rest in God, in love and peace through Jesus' blood. By grace we have a Father Christ,
By grace the Comforter comes nigh, and for thy grace our love
shall be forever, only Lord, for thee. What a blessing the Murray family
has been to this fellowship. We're also very encouraged by
your all spirit and encouraged by the faith that the Lord has
given to each of you. And I'm encouraged by the sacrifice
that they make to drive almost three hours one way to get here
and their faithfulness to come. John called me this week and
said, I'd like for you to be baptized. I've been thinking
about it a long time. There's no reason for me not
to be. I believe on Christ. We shared
some scriptures that the Lord's been dealing with him about.
And John, it's with great joy, brother, that we baptize you
as a brother in Christ, buried with Christ in baptism. raised to walk a new life in
Christ Jesus. Let's pray together for John.
Our merciful heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of
faith. We thank you for the desire to follow after Christ and to
testify of him. Thank you for John. Lord, we
ask your blessing upon him. Pray that you would keep him
and that you would grow us together in your grace, knit our hearts
together in the love of Christ. for we ask it in Christ's name,
amen, amen. All right, let's stand together. Tom, you wanna lead us in amazing
grace? Y'all come by and speak to John
when we finish. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Was blind, but now I see. The pain has won. ? I call out to Thee ? ? And
raise my ears to Thee ? ? How precious Thou art dear ? ? And
raise up here ? ? The hour I first believed ? I have already come. What grace that brought me safe
thus far. And grace will lead me home. We know. We.