Let us turn again to God's Word
before we come to Him once more with our prayers. We turn to
the Word of God here in Philippians chapter 3. And directing you for a text
to the words that we have at verse 3. Philippians 3, 3. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh." And the subject then that we
see in this verse is that of spiritual circumcision. The theme I'm taking up tonight,
spiritual circumcision in the context here the opening verses
from verse 1 through 16 Paul seems to be dealing with those
Judaizers those who were given to legality and he is answering
them or is exhorting others in the church with regards to their
false teachings and they have strung the languages. Verse 2,
he says, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision. And so he reversed to these who
wanted to bring the believers in Philippi under the the law
of God and insisted that those Gentiles who had converted to
the Lord Jesus Christ should submit to the right of circumcision. but Paul calls them the concision. In many ways a word of abuse
we might say. But he answers these people in
some ways by referring to himself and his own experience. He was
once, as they are, very much a legalist. As he says at verse
4, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I am more circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching
the law of Pharisees concerning zeal, persecuting the church,
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blindness. Oh, he was indeed a Pharisee
of the Pharisees, full of legality. That's what he once was, but
he was a different man now, he was a new creature, in Christ
Jesus. He was therefore a Christian
as he goes on to say at verse 7, But what things were gained
to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, and so forth. He's dealing then with
very real problems there amongst the believers in that church
at Philippi because of these men who wanted to bring Christians
back under the under the law of Moses and if they were circumcised
he would say they're debtors therefore to do the whole law
of God and really this legality is just an outward expression,
a show as he says, writing to the Galatians, and you're probably
aware that the Galatian epistle is one that really deals in some
details with this whole matter of those in the early churches
who were wanting to bring Gentile Christians under the yoke of
the Lord of Moses. To the Galatians then he says,
as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain
you to be circumcised. That's what they were doing,
they were trying to force these Gentile believers under the law
and insisting on them being circumcised. And as I said, Paul uses this
term concision and it's really a word that refers to illegal
cuttings in the flesh. in Leviticus. Certainly the priests
were warned about that, not to make any cuttings in their flesh. And what do people who do this,
that these legalists require? They become circumcised. What
are they doing? In fact, they're not just making
illegal cuttings in the flesh, but they may be said to be cutting
themselves off. from the Lord Jesus Christ. Again,
we see it there in the Galatian Epistle. In chapter 5 and verse
2, Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised, that he is a deserter to the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace." Oh, the grave
danger, the great danger then of these legalists. But what Paul goes on to say
here in the words that we've read for the text, is that there
is a spiritual circumcision, and that is the mark of those
who are the true people of God. the mark of the real Christian.
We are the circumcision, he says. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. So he speaks here of spiritual
circumcision. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. It's spiritual. And we know that
all true worship, of course, is spiritual. The words of the
Lord Jesus to the Samaritan woman, there in John 4, The hour cometh,
and there is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit. and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The necessity of the word of
truth, the word of God, the governing through worship, but also the
necessity of the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit. We know now
in the Old Testament the Jews equated circumcision with perfection. It's instituted there in the
17th chapter of the book of Genesis. It's given to Abraham. As we see, verse 1, When Abraham was ninety
years old, and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said
unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect,
and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply
thee exceedingly. And then verse 9, God said to
Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore thou and thy seed after
thee in their generation. This is my covenant, which ye
shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee. Every
man-child among you shall be circumcised. And then verse 14,
He says, the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is
not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He hath broken my covenant. They must accept this right then
as a mark of the covenant. It meant that they were God's
covenant people. It indicated their perfection. Now, That's the Old Testament. We see it so evident. That was
the mark of the Jew. Circumcision. But when we come
to the New Testament, what are we to understand is the counterparts
to circumcision in the Old Testament. Well, there are words, aren't
there, that we have in another epistle, in Colossians chapter
2. And there at verse 11, Paul writes, In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. not circumcision in the flesh,
then, circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried
with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from
the dead. Now, that's a portion of Scripture
that's often seized on by the pedobaptists, who argue from
circumcision in the Old Testament which was of course to take place on the 8th day
on every male child that was born to the descendants of Abraham
and so the pedo-baptists say look the equivalent to Old Testament
circumcision is the baptizing of the children of believers
That's one of the arguments that they employ. Because they don't
baptize them, normally they simply sprinkle water upon them and
call it baptism. But is that really the New Testament
equivalent? Isn't the fulfillment of what
we have in the Old Testament, which was something that was
done in the flesh, isn't it something in the New Testament that is
altogether spiritual in nature? And this is what Paul is saying
in our text. We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh. It's the same really as we saw
in that portion that we read at the end of Romans chapter
2. 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. As I said, these legalists,
they wanted to make a show They wanted to make an impression,
as it were, seeking not the glory of God. The true circumcision, then,
is spiritual. It's in the heart. It's in the heart. In many ways
it's associated with regeneration. We see it on the day of Pentecost. when the Pentecost is fully come
and there's that remarkable outpouring of the Spirit of God, there's
the preaching of the Apostles, Peter in particular, and the
consequence as the Spirit is there operating sovereignly in
the hearts of many sinners are pricked in their heart, it says.
They're cut to the quick. And we read that there in Colossians
2.11. in the putting off the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Putting
off the sins, the body of the sins of death by the circumcision
of Christ. Paul can say, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It's
a blessed application of that glorious work that Christ accomplished
for the salvation of his people. It's a work of the Spirit. It's
something taking place in the heart. Paul says to Titus, he
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost. And even in the Old Testament
we see various texts which indicate what is going to be the ultimate
spiritual fulfillment of circumcision. Even in the Lord of Moses, Deuteronomy
chapter 10 and verse 16, he says, Circumcise therefore the foreskin
of your hearts and be no more stiff-necked. circumcision of
the heart now that's an exhortation of course circumcised therefore
the foreskin of your heart that's the word but it doesn't really
mean that man is able in his own power by his own strength
and ability to do such a thing men will learn their complete
and utter impotence it goes on to say later Deuteronomy 30 verse
6 the Lord thy God will circumcise thy hearts and the hearts of
thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and
with all thy soul that thou mayest live. Oh, the Lord must do it. The Lord must do it. It's a circumcision
made without hands. The language again of Colossians
2.11 made without hands. It's not of man. It is the sovereign
work of God. It's interesting, we have those
words in Deuteronomy, circumcise therefore the foreskin of your
heart, and though that's the exhortation, yet as we see it's
God who must do it, the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart. And we see something similar
in Ezekiel with regards to the New Covenant. In Ezekiel 18.31,
God says, Make you a new heart and a new spirit. For wherefore
will you die, O house of Israel? Make you a new heart, a new spirit. But then later, what is the promise
of the new covenant? A new heart also I will give
you. and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of flesh." It is the blessed work of the
Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ who must come and
accomplish that gracious work in the heart of all those who
are truly the circumcision, it's spiritual circumcision It's those
which worship God as it says in the Spirit. The sovereign work of the Spirit.
Christ speaks about the Spirit's work is like the wind that bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is every
one that is born of the Spirit. But then, as it is spiritual
circumcision, We notice here in the text, secondly, it centers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They worship God in the Spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, it says. Or they rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The sign of circumcision is that
that really points to faith in Christ. That's what it does. We're told,
aren't we, Romans 4.11, how Abraham received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had, being
yet uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that
believe. He received the sign of circumcision
as a seal of the righteousness of faith, and he received it
when he was uncircumcised. Paul says that he might be the
father of all them that believe. Circumcision is pointing then
to the necessity of faith, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, there in that fourth
chapter of Romans what said the scripture Abraham believed God
and it was accounted to him for righteousness oh it was that
object of his faith that that his faith was looking to the
promised seat that was accounted to him for righteousness remember
And he goes on later in that same chapter to refer to that promise. Paul says,
concerning Abraham, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being
fully persuaded of what he had promised. He was able also to
perform, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness,
the promise. The promised seed was Isaac,
but Isaac, of course, the type of Christ. Oh, Abram saw Christ today, and
he saw it and was glad. The true children of Abram, then,
are not those who are circumcised in the flesh, The true seed of
Abraham are all those whose trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And isn't this what Paul says
there in Galatians 3? In Galatians chapter 3 and verses
6 and 7, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him
for righteousness. Know ye therefore, that they
which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. As many as walk according to
this rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon the Israel of
God. All the true Israel of God are
those who believe. They are not all Israel that
are of Israel. Even in the Old Testament, Though
they were the Lord's typical people, they were not all true
spiritual Israelites. Only those who were circumcised
in their hearts, those who had real faith, were the true Israel
of God. Now, of course, under the Gospel,
the majority of God's Israel is made up of believers from
amongst the Gentile nations. Isn't that one of the great mysteries?
that has been revealed in these last days. We notice then concerning
the true circumcision that they worship God in the Spirit and
they rejoice in Christ Jesus, He is all their salvation and
so it follows they have no confidence in the flesh. They have no confidence
in the flesh. And what does that mean? Well,
there must be that mortifying of sinful self. And again, it's there in what
we referred to previously in Colossians 2 and verse 11. In whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And Paul says much really there
in that Colossian Epistle with regards to mortification. Chapter 3 and verse 5 he says,
mortified, in other words, put to death. Therefore your members
which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Verse 8, But now ye also put
off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth. Line up one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man and his deeds, and have put
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. Why, if any man is in Christ
Jesus, he is a new creation. When the sinner is born again,
he has a new nature. And there's that conflict between
the old nature and the new nature. We see that quite clearly. Paul
certainly knew it, experienced it. He cries out, doesn't he? The
good that I would, I do, not the evil that I would, not that
I do. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God. Through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so then I myself with the mind serve the Lord of God,
but with the flesh the Lord of sin. The real Paul, the I myself,
is that that seeks to serve. to serve God and not to serve
self. There's that mortifying of self. There's that constant conflict.
The flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh. And these contrary one to the other. There's mortification
there. They have no confidence in the
flesh. They desire only to see the flesh mortified. But they cannot do it of themselves.
It's a spiritual work. It has a complete dependence
upon God. Again, Romans 8.13, If ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. It
must be spiritual. The mortifying then of sinful
self, but also in those who are the true circumcision, there
is denial righteous self no confidence in the flesh and surely this
was the great lesson that Paul had to learn as he goes on to
say here at verse 4 though I might also have confidence in the flesh
for what was this man's pedigree if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh I more He was circumcised
the eighth day. He's of the stock of Israel.
He's of the tribe of Benjamin. He's a Hebrew of the Hebrews.
Touching the Lord, he's a Pharisee. His father was a Pharisee before
him. Concerning Zero, he persecuted
those who were followers of the way of Christ. And he really
thought that touching the righteousness which is in the Lord, he was
blameless. And he has to deny all of that.
All of that. What things were going to me,
those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. He has
to let all these things go. No wonder he's so strong against
the legalists. But what does he think of all
these things? I do count them, but dumb, he says. Dumb. Worthless. That I may win Christ, and his
one desire to be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the Lord, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Oh, this is the word of the gospel,
is it not? His word is this, poor sinner, hear, believe on
me and banish fear, cease from your own works, bad and good,
and wash your garments in my blood. No confidence at all then in
the flesh. This is the circumcision. It's a spiritual circumcision. And what these legalists are
contending for It's just concision. Illegal. Cuttings. Forbidden under the
Levitical law. And the strength of the Apostle's
language. How he feels these things. Beware of dogs. Beware
of evil workers. Beware of the concision. For
we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Or
the Lord then grant that we might know the truth of it, for our
souls' good. Amen. Let us now sing the hymn 352. I just
quoted a verse from it. 352, the tune Baker. 292, the
moon. and stars shall lose their light,
the sun shall sink in endless night, both heaven and earth
shall pass away. The works of nature all decay,
but they that in the Lord confide, and shelter in his wounded side,
shall see the danger overpass, and every storm, and live at
last. 352, TUNE 292